It was purportedly (and probably in actuality) intended as a survival aid to be used after landings and before recovery in the Siberian wilderness, although allegedly was intended as a defensive weapon against in-space attacks by the US space program.

  • @WhoRoger
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    732 years ago

    The attack in space angle was probably just to convince some manager.

    The survival in Siberia is completely valid. US retrieves their astronauts in the ocean, but Soviet Russia didn’t/doesn’t have such a worldwide navy, so Siberia it is. It could take days for the cosmonauts to be recovered, so it was expected they might need to defend themselves against wildlife or even hunt.

    • @[email protected]
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      132 years ago

      I think every astronaut that embarked in the Soyuz spacecraft had to go through a wilderness survival training.

      I know the french astronaut Thomas Pesquet had to survive a week in Siberian first in winter before embarking on the Soyuz.

  • @mojofrododojo
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    312 years ago

    Because space is haunted. And buckshot’s superior spread helps ensure a hit while spinning around in zero-g. Solid slugs would go straight through the soyuz walls, duh.

  • janAkali
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    2 years ago

    allegedly was intended as a defensive weapon against in-space attacks by the US space program.

    ??? If it was for in-space attacks, wouldn’t it be more logical to mount a gun outside of ship 😆?

    It was intended as a survival aid for emergency landings. It’s not a shotgun, but a three barrel pistol (but it can shoot both normal rounds and shells). Another interesting detail - it’s buttstock is a folding machete.

    TP-87 was invented by request of A. Leonov after emergency landing of ‘Voshod-2’ where cosmonauts Leonov and Belyaev had to survive 3 days in wild taiga forest for a rescue team to retrieve them.

  • @sygnius
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    212 years ago

    Would this actually work effectively in space?

    • @WhoRoger
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      2 years ago

      Why wouldn’t it?

      Ed: the only thing that might not work is gunpowder in vacuum due to lack of oxygen, but gunpowder has oxidiser included, so yes it would.

      • janus2
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        162 years ago

        I had to look up whether gunpowder requires oxygen to burn (it doesn’t)

        • Sabre363
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          192 years ago

          Gunpowder does actually require oxygen to burn, it just happens to bring its own oxygen with it.

          • janus2
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            12 years ago

            That’s what I assumed, but why ass-ume when I live in the information age 😁

        • @expatriado
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          2 years ago

          if it needed oxygen from the air it would have to breathe, the explosion happens inside the barrel before it mixes with the atmosphere

      • @CookieOfFortune
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        62 years ago

        Heat dissipation is an issue since there’s no air around to cool the barrel, although for this three shot weapon (two shotgun one rifle) it wouldn’t be a problem. This gun is mostly to fend off bears when you land in Siberia.

    • NaibofTabr
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      82 years ago

      Yes, I guess? But firing a gun inside a spacecraft would be a bad idea… and also firing it while spacewalking would be a bad idea unless you were very sure that you were very well braced & tethered.

      • @radix
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        82 years ago

        Or the gun is just an emergency propulsion system in case you lose your tether…

      • AlwaysNowNeverNotMe
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        22 years ago

        You could load it with very small, light, or soft pellets, they don’t need to be very damaging to make a hole in a suit which would be near certainly fatal.

      • kbity
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        42 years ago

        I’d kind of hope everyone would know better than that after the disastrous Apollo I fire.

  • @[email protected]
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    112 years ago

    Long-time space journalist Jim Oberg called it “a deluxe all-in-one weapon with three barrels and a folding stock that doubles as a shovel and contains a swing-out machete.”

  • SokathHisEyesOpen
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    102 years ago

    It could also be a handy final solution if you got trapped in space with no chance of rescue or return.

  • @Red_October
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    92 years ago

    They say it was because their landing in the wilds of Siberia may require defense against wildlife. This is not true. The truth is that they have seen what resides in space, and would not venture into it’s laid unarmed.

  • @[email protected]
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    52 years ago

    Possibly also for suicide if you get into a situation where you would slowly suffer to death?

      • @riodoro1
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        02 years ago

        A gunshot wound to the head is also not suicide.

        If however both the gunshot wound and hypoxia are self inflicted then it is suicide, regardless if you pull the trigger or open a valve.

  • @OptimusPhillip
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    42 years ago

    I can’t seem to read the article, so forgive me if they answer this question, but how would a gun work in space? Most firearms I’m familiar with use oxidation reactions to propel ammunition. Were the shells filled with self-oxidizing propellant, or did they just use a completely different system?

    • @An_Zombie
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      102 years ago

      Fun fact! All gunpowder is self oxidizing

      • @OptimusPhillip
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        42 years ago

        I guess today is a learning day for all of us! I knew gunpowder contained nitrates, but I didn’t realize that was its purpose, or that it allowed it to work in a vacuum.

    • Cethin
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      72 years ago

      Pretty much anything explosive need to be self oxidizing. If air can’t get in to continue to feed the burning of the material (which never can during an explosion) than the oxygen needs to come from another source.