Standard Issue For Russian Cosmonauts - Triple-barreled TP-82

[L84Cabo]

I thought this was interesting regarding what Russian Cosmonauts used to carry into space.

Here in the United States, there's a certain image of the Astronaut's journey we've grown accustomed to: a dramatic launch, a majestic weightless experience, turbulent reentry, and finally, a splashdown somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. From there, America's Navy swoops in, picking up the floating Astronauts and their capsules (barring an embarrassing incident like Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell 7) and ensuring America's space adventurers receive immediate medical screenings and a (moderately) soft Navy issue rack to get some gravity assisted sleep.

In the early days of America's space program, an astronaut's return to earth was a celebrated event but in the Soviet Union, returning cosmonauts didn't have ticker tape parades on their mind as their capsules careened through the atmosphere with a heading set for home. Unlike the United States, the Soviet (and Russian) space programs have their returning Soyuz capsules touchdown on land, rather than in the ocean. There were no carrier groups awaiting Cosmonaut landings, there were search and rescue parties — as their capsules came down in one of the most unforgiving environments on the planet: Siberia

Check out the 3-barrelled machete gun carried into orbit by Russian cosmonauts until 2006 | The Loadout Room

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[Certaindeaf]

I carry space in my gun..

 

[Stomper]

Clearly the rooshin's anticipated encountering 3-headed aliens.

 

[Boboclown]

I saw a NBC article on this. In typical antigun fashion they said the Russians shouldn't have guns with them.

Lets have NBC reporters and writers go in Siberia unarmed.