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Sawed-Off Shotgun on Space Station

usa4id.com — In 1965 Russian officials decided to pack a shotgun on their spacecraft. This was because they overshot their touchdown site and landed in the woods.

Who dugg this? Made popular Mar 7, 2006

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  • Timmy_otoole, on 10/12/2007, -3/+50It would also protect them from those damn dirty apes.
  • veritech, on 10/12/2007, -3/+43Armed and dangerous astronauts, Funny but it makes sense. It would suck to survive launch, orbit and recovery, travel a couple million miles, only to get killed by a what is basically a big dog.
  • wayjer, on 10/12/2007, -5/+37It worked in Doom!
  • veritech, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19Budget cuts
  • szdickerson, on 10/12/2007, -5/+23Problem - Writing in Space
    Solution - NASA: $3 billion anti-gravity pen Russia: $1 pencil

    Problem - Landing a spacecraft
    Solution - NASA: $3 billion software for 1-mile accurate trajectory software Russia: $200 shotgun in case of wolves
  • bitswapper, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20Yep, gotta take down the other infected crewmembers. Should be standard equipment on any spacestation right along with oxygen, food, and condoms.
  • CatFood, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13I foud a bit more info in this. Here's a little snippet from the page:

    "American astronauts who trained for the 1995–1997 Mir visits, and later as part of the Soyuz spacecraft crews for the International Space Station, encountered a unique feature that cosmonauts need to master: target practice. They have to know how to load, aim, and fire the special survival gun that has been on board all Soyuz spacecraft throughout their 30-year history.

    The triple-barreled gun can fire flares, shotgun shells, or rifle bullets, depending on how it’s loaded. The gun and about 10 rounds for each barrel are carried in a triangle-shaped survival canister stowed next to the commander’s couch. The gun’s shoulder stock opens up into a machete for chopping firewood."

    Take a look at the full thing (Scroll down to the Survival equipment): http://suzymchale.com/kosmonavtka/soyuz_features.html
  • SvobodaIT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9It was news to me. Thats why I submitted it.
  • M3Parker, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11a shotgun!? whatever happened to "SET PHASERS TO STUN!"
  • Nighthawke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Look up Voskhod 2 and you'll get the idea...

    This was the 1st spacewalk flight where Alexi Leonov went out, and nearly got killed for they had to deflate his suit. He could not get back inside for he turned into a overstuffed doll in his pressure suit! But the fun part was the landing. They came in way off course and wound up in the woods somewhere, when they cracked the hatch to take a peek out, they saw at least a dozen glowing eyes looking back at them; Siberian Wolves! No gun, nothing to defend themselves agianst the threat, they took turns bracing the hatch shut to keep the intruders from getting in and having a midnight snack of the cosmonauts.

    So I would not blame them for packing such a freaky thing as the tri-barrell gun. I would have rather packed a M3A1 "grease gun" or a Uzi Micro.
  • dagfooyo, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12Hahaha... gotta love the russians, they get right to the point. Makes me think of that old joke:

    "The U.S. spent millions of dollars developing a pen that can write in space. The Russians just brought a pencil."
  • rodball, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Who would have thought it would be the Soviets that had the gun rack in their space capsule?
  • Schmitty, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8What astronauts do when they get bored. Satillite Skeet :-D
  • egometry, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10That little 'gem' is a bit inaccurate. The US Gov't never spent any money developing the pressurized pen, and NASA considered pencils first, but decided that the graphite dust that harmlessly falls to the ground in a gravity well doesn't do so well in weightlessness.

    Anyways, the full story is at snopes: http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
  • MrMysterious, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7It's not really that surprising that they are armed with something upon their return, especially when you are landing in a H U G E country, much of which is untamed and wild.

    Also, sawed off shotguns don't have to be inaccurate larowebr, they have a stereotype of being inaccurate because the barrel on normal shotguns are cut at home, meaning the elimination of the chock (rifling the last 2-3" of the barrel). If this was manufactured as a short shotgun, it could have a choke and some resemblance of accuracy.
  • sabbac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6It'd really be funny in addition to the gun rack, if they put a confederate flag in the window.
  • dasil003, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Also invaluable for emergency de-pressurization.
  • plarf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6If you read it again it says it is a 3 barreled sawed-off-shotgun / rifle. Pays to read the entire article.
  • SvobodaIT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Just because it doesn't utilize the latest programming languages means it sucks? I don't know why the USAID would need a real fancy site.
  • kacymartin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I read somewhere that, that is an urban legend as well. The Russians had "space pens" as well. The problem with pencils in space is that they are messy. And can be potentially dangerous. The graphite used as lead is conductive and if the tip broke and got behind a panel that can be somewhat problematic.
  • cawpin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4First, it isn't a "sawed-off" shotgun. This is for two reasons, it wasn't sawed off, it was made that way, and it has two shotgun barrels and a rifle barrel. It is a drilling.
  • tehJR, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Same goes for eating potato chips...then smashing your head into an ant colony. Or so I've been led to believe by The Simpsons.
  • Maskawanian, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6That actually has a pretty good explanation, I read the description and was wondering "wtf" until I read the article, makes sense.
  • brutimus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Always good to see a fellow Hitchhiker's Guide fan.
  • martyf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Well...
    One of my interests is woodland survival skills. These days, it's all about carrying a GPS-enabled Personal Locator Beacon, and using any number of sattelite phone technologies to tell them "I'm at 40.565 degrees north and 70.456 degrees east, please bring a sandwich". The basic idea is stay put for up to three days and they'll get you. Even if you were 1,200 miles off course and in the woods.
    But, if they have to FIND you, even using radio triangulation (which has the annoying problem of being much harder to do with the "High Frequency" radio bands that they would have used for long distance communications back then), it could be a few weeks before they got a crew in. So in that case, yeah, sure you want a defensive weapon of some sort. A shotgun is the best "compromise" choice in this situation. While they opted for a tri-barrell design, and used a short (not "sawed off") barrel, which reduces accuracy, in terms of versatility, it's a good choice. The American experiements with the AR-7, a semi-automatic .22 and M6 Scout (a combination .410 shotgun and .22 rifle) probobly lead the russians to decide on the simple, effective and nearly indestructible shotgun as a better choice for a 2 weeks in the woods situation. With multiple shot-shell loads on board, including "slugs" (big honking chunks balls of lead .72" in diameter that can take down a bear quick enough), they would have a decent range of options. What I'd like to know is where these guns ended up and if they are for sale anywhere.
  • tsunamisteve, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This is awesome. I'm in a History of the Space Age class and we just talked about the Russians having to use the shotguns.
  • Pureeviljester, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3people in space = technology, gun = technology; technology doesn't have to be computer chips.
  • BritOverseas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3And is it just me or is "Sawed Off" really really incorrect. Surely it is "Sawn Off"?? That is a word right?
  • jtown, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Not a single Boom Stick reference?
  • ForbesBingley, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3That is exactly what I was thinking! What a film...
  • PrettyBoyFloyd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I remember reading about this in Gordon Cooper's autobiography. He and Alexi Leonov became great friends and Leonov loved to tell the story about his landing in the Siberian wilderness and having the wolves surround the Voskhod capsule waiting for he and Pavel Belyayev to come out for dinner. And this was after the adventure of his first spacewalk.

    Of course, if they really wanted to be prepared, they'd include an adequate number of towels in the Soyuz capsule as well as the shotgun.
  • Guder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have to say the "sawedoff" shotgun the russians decided to bring makes more sense then the shotgun shells for the flare gun the US Air Force played with giving it's pilots. Sounds like you have better control and less chance of breaking your hand firing it.
  • sarge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2the first sex in space may lead to the first "shotgun wedding" in space... I feel a paradox coming on...
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Another thing that's harsh about these cosmonaut's bad landings is the fact that you come back from space all fuxored. Your heart is a little weaker, you feel 10x heavier, you have a congested head, etc. So you land all weak and soft, then you have to hold off a wolfpack because some nimrod in ground control forgot to carry a 1.

    If I was one of these dudes, I'd get together with my other comrades and beat the crap out of the drunk nerd who forgot his landing trajectory math book. That would just _suck_.
  • rekka, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Laika's still up there, and she's pissed!
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Lol, that reminds me of the old high school days. You get a group of friends together to go somewhere and the driver puts his hand out. GAS MONEY! I'm just picturing the Soviet in charge with his hand out on the launch pad.
  • Pureeviljester, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Bahaha, "mind you, you would do more damage throwing it at him." -Snatch
    I wonder what shooting something would be like in space. I only have an idea from Cowboy Beebop.
  • robweber, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i would be willing to bet taking a load of shot from any type of shotgun at a range shorter than 50 yards would deter anything from coming too much closer, i would rather have that than a rock
  • Atomic1fire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1its to keep the aleins from using shrink guns and expand guns on people and them big dinos with the chain gun
    (i know duke nukem weapons and boss)
  • plefno, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The Russians actually do have vodka onboard the station.
  • acontorer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's interesting to think about how much this gun and ammo (and the rest of the survival kit) weighs, and how much space it takes up. If you've ever seen the interior of a space capsule, they are smaller than small. Decisions to allow something on board *every mission* mean it's being taken very seriously.
  • larowebr, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6"Ummm... It's for zem to keel ze beasts of ze forest ven zey miss zeir landink site."

    A *sawed-off* shotgun. Do you know how close to a beast you have to be to kill it with a sawed-off shotgun? It's practically a melee weapon! You'd be better off throwing it than shooting it.

    I think it was originally to be used to ward off those damned US spies who were always trying to steal valuable Soviet technology.
  • Nemesiz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Kalashnikova(A-K 47) is Russian and definitely better. It was around made in 1947. But maybe it wasn't a quality issue. Maybe they couldn't afford one =). They may have blown the defense budget on the vodka.
  • OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Might want to stick a warp drive on that Soyuz while they're at it.
  • mrbro, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It's for getting the wolves to go away, not for hunting.
  • HiredGun45, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Are you so scared of inanimate objects that the thought of a trained professional with one in order to survive scares you?
  • ubermole, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1How long until someone makes this into a game?

    "You are a russian astronaut who landed back on earth a thousand miles from the landing zone and nothing but a shotgun and a bottle of vodka."
  • socket, on 10/12/2007, -8/+8They keep it next to the porn and booze.
  • Speak, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Uh, it's impossible that they chose to put a shotgun on the space craft because they overshot their landing site, that's like "Oh man, I'm running late, I'm going to leave 5 minutes ago."

    The article is fine, but seriously, can we put a little more effort into the grammar and spelling of our diggs?
  • francoisdw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Well the chap in the picture is "for real", Mark Shuttleworth. He paid to go up to the International Space Station and got a lift from the Russian' to get there. He had to chip in a few $'s to help pay for the fuel.
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