Space Station Crew Can Access Gun

**American Patriot** · February 14th, 2008, 16:41

I didn't know if I should post this under Russia, Guns, Space, Second Amendment... sheesh things are surely becoming complicated these days...

Space Station Crew Can Access Gun
http://www.wesh.com/news ^ | 12/14/08 | staff

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Astronauts aboard the International Space Station apparently have access to a gun.

Russian Cosmonauts carry a gun on their Soyuz space capsule, which is attached to the space station.

Every spacecraft carries survival gear for crash landings, and the Russian Soyuz has a kit that includes the gun.

A photo of a space tourist using one version of the weapon is posted on his Web site.

But although the gun has been there for as long as the space station has been in orbit, its existence is kept quiet. NASA and Russian officials won't talk publicly about it.

Former NASA engineer Jim Oberg, who is an author and journalist, wrote about the gun on his Web site. He said the gun has no place in an environment where people are under such high stress.

"There have been cases of severe psychological strain on people in space, strain that they have taken out -- that their shipmates worried about the ultimate actions," Oberg said.

Experts said the idea of an astronaut losing control was unthinkable until one year ago, when Lisa Nowak shattered the myth.

Her own attorney said she was insane when arrested for hunting down another woman, and prosecutors said she was heavily armed.

Nowak had flown in space just seven months earlier.

Oberg knows an astronaut bent on orbital manslaughter could simply throw any number of switches to do the job, but he said the crews would be safer if the gun was locked up or left on Earth.

The gun is located in a survival kit between some seats aboard the Soyuz spacecraft. All the crewmembers know about it, and U.S. astronauts who fly aboard the Soyuz are trained to use it.

**Ryan Ruck** · February 14th, 2008, 17:16

Oh my God! So I really COULD be a Space Shuttle Door Gunner!! Sa-weet!!

**American Patriot** · February 14th, 2008, 20:02

Wel... you need to go over there and read the FR thread. LOL!!!!!!!!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1970304/posts

The guy Oberg mentioned in there is a dufus. He's a smart guy, with an leftist attitude. I've read a couple or five of his books over the years, and I've seen his engineering comments and such, and even seen him on tv a few times. But, in my opinion, he's still a dumbass with the crack about "Former NASA engineer Jim Oberg, who is an author and journalist, wrote about the gun on his Web site. He said the gun has no place in an environment where people are under such high stress."

**Ryan Ruck** · February 14th, 2008, 20:08

Yeah, 'cause it isn't like they can control craft with thousands of gallons of highly explosive fuel.

**Toad** · February 14th, 2008, 21:23

Who would be stupid enough to actually use it while in the space station?!?!? You miss, or the slug passes through soft tissue, and right into or through the station wall and ... whoooosh! Catastrophic decompression and air loss.