Tales of the Space Shuttle
In the American slang "Space Shuttle door gunner" ("side gunner Space Shuttle") means a bouncer who invents his military exploits. Of course, there were no machine gunners on the shuttles in the doorways along the sides, like on the helicopters of the Vietnam War. However, on the Internet you can find photos of almost the same as in Vietnam “Huey”, painted in the colors of NASA and with armed people in the doorways. And each astronaut, while the shuttles flew, be sure to follow the course of the driver of the M113 armored personnel carrier. As you have probably already guessed, today, on the eve of February 23, I would like to tell a few paramilitary and near-cosmic stories.
The painting "Watch" , the artist Nick Foreman
Photo by Suresh A. Atapattu / Airliners.net
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Flying Valkyries did not sound in your ears? Didn't the Vietnamese flashback pop up? What a score. The photographs include a civilian modification of the Bell 204/205/210 helicopter, which the troops called UH-1 “Huey” and became one of the symbols of the Vietnam War in Apocalypse Today, “We were Soldiers” and other films. As in Vietnam, the side door is open, and in the doorway sits a man behind a machine gun. Only the helicopter itself is painted in NASA colors. And this is absolutely correct, because it belongs to the SWAT unit of the Kennedy Space Center. SWAT uses military equipment, so they have assault rifles, machine guns and even a pair of armored vehicles.
Lenco Bearcat armored car, source: LuisSantanaPhoto.com
And since the detachment is organizationally related to NASA, and not the police, this gives rise to curious tenders from the seemingly civilian space agency for the purchase of military equipment. The task of ensuring security on the territory of the cosmodrome is obvious, and the work of the unit is well covered. Here, for example, a film about their training.
Military technology is also used by NASA for its tasks. At the time of the shuttles, there were four demilitarized M113 armored personnel carriers on the NASA equipment list.
Photo: NASA / George Shelton
Before each launch, two of them were firefighters, one was empty at the very start in case of an astronaut evacuation, and the last was a backup. In the event of an accident at the start with the need to leave the shuttle, the astronauts would descend from the launch complex using special baskets, and there they would be waited for by the bunker and the armored personnel carrier. Since M113 was empty, without a driver, all the astronauts had to learn how to drive it and refresh their skills in training before each mission.
M113 are gone with the shuttles, but their place is not left empty. For emergency evacuation of astronauts of future manned missions, NASA has already purchased MRAP anti-mine armored vehicles.
Photo: NASA / Kim Shiflett
Here is a video from the test.
The slang term "space shuttle Space Shuttle" also found its reflection in material objects. You can buy a patch of the same name, which jokes attach to the military for clothes, and NASA employees to a spacesuit.
Photo store milspecmonkey.com
Somewhere in the Kennedy Space Center, 2009, photo from the forum AR15.com
At the cosmodrome "Baikonur" it is necessary to solve the same problem of security. Therefore, launches of our rockets and cosmonauts are also covered by the attracted military equipment. In our case, this is an armored reconnaissance and patrol vehicle BRDM-2.
A source
Organizationally, this equipment belongs to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia at the Baikonur complex, and not Roskosmos. But, if the American astronauts learned to drive an armored personnel carrier, then, until recently, our cosmonauts included training in shooting survival courses. Already Gagarin flew with a Makarov pistol in an emergency reserve. After the adventures of Leonov and Belyaev in the taiga, they began to develop more powerful weapons, and since 1982 astronauts have flown with a triple-barreled pistol TP-82.
A source
By 2006, the storage time of ammunition came to him, but did not produce new ones. Three years ago, when I was talking about military space, I thought that since then astronauts have flown without firearms. But it turns out that in return for the TP-82 they returned the Makarov pistol, with which the cosmonauts flew until recently (the exact year is unknown). And only in recent years, firearms were abandoned altogether. And only machete remained in the equipment for survival - the butt of TP-82.
And once the equipment created for the military, helped in the space mission. When the Salyut-7 station was completely de-energized due to the accident in orbit,they removed the sight from the tank with a laser rangefinder and put it on the Soyuz spacecraft. This is a myth; in fact, the LPR-1 military rangefinder was used for reconnaissance and artillery spotters. The range finder was used to determine the distance to the station when approaching and docking.
LPR-1, photo 6ppc.ru
All those concerned - Happy Defender of the Fatherland Day!
The painting "Watch" , the artist Nick Foreman
Shuttle curbstones
Photo by Suresh A. Atapattu / Airliners.net
')
Flying Valkyries did not sound in your ears? Didn't the Vietnamese flashback pop up? What a score. The photographs include a civilian modification of the Bell 204/205/210 helicopter, which the troops called UH-1 “Huey” and became one of the symbols of the Vietnam War in Apocalypse Today, “We were Soldiers” and other films. As in Vietnam, the side door is open, and in the doorway sits a man behind a machine gun. Only the helicopter itself is painted in NASA colors. And this is absolutely correct, because it belongs to the SWAT unit of the Kennedy Space Center. SWAT uses military equipment, so they have assault rifles, machine guns and even a pair of armored vehicles.
Lenco Bearcat armored car, source: LuisSantanaPhoto.com
And since the detachment is organizationally related to NASA, and not the police, this gives rise to curious tenders from the seemingly civilian space agency for the purchase of military equipment. The task of ensuring security on the territory of the cosmodrome is obvious, and the work of the unit is well covered. Here, for example, a film about their training.
Military technology is also used by NASA for its tasks. At the time of the shuttles, there were four demilitarized M113 armored personnel carriers on the NASA equipment list.
Photo: NASA / George Shelton
Before each launch, two of them were firefighters, one was empty at the very start in case of an astronaut evacuation, and the last was a backup. In the event of an accident at the start with the need to leave the shuttle, the astronauts would descend from the launch complex using special baskets, and there they would be waited for by the bunker and the armored personnel carrier. Since M113 was empty, without a driver, all the astronauts had to learn how to drive it and refresh their skills in training before each mission.
M113 are gone with the shuttles, but their place is not left empty. For emergency evacuation of astronauts of future manned missions, NASA has already purchased MRAP anti-mine armored vehicles.
Photo: NASA / Kim Shiflett
Here is a video from the test.
The slang term "space shuttle Space Shuttle" also found its reflection in material objects. You can buy a patch of the same name, which jokes attach to the military for clothes, and NASA employees to a spacesuit.
Photo store milspecmonkey.com
Somewhere in the Kennedy Space Center, 2009, photo from the forum AR15.com
On our side of the ocean
At the cosmodrome "Baikonur" it is necessary to solve the same problem of security. Therefore, launches of our rockets and cosmonauts are also covered by the attracted military equipment. In our case, this is an armored reconnaissance and patrol vehicle BRDM-2.
A source
Organizationally, this equipment belongs to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia at the Baikonur complex, and not Roskosmos. But, if the American astronauts learned to drive an armored personnel carrier, then, until recently, our cosmonauts included training in shooting survival courses. Already Gagarin flew with a Makarov pistol in an emergency reserve. After the adventures of Leonov and Belyaev in the taiga, they began to develop more powerful weapons, and since 1982 astronauts have flown with a triple-barreled pistol TP-82.
A source
By 2006, the storage time of ammunition came to him, but did not produce new ones. Three years ago, when I was talking about military space, I thought that since then astronauts have flown without firearms. But it turns out that in return for the TP-82 they returned the Makarov pistol, with which the cosmonauts flew until recently (the exact year is unknown). And only in recent years, firearms were abandoned altogether. And only machete remained in the equipment for survival - the butt of TP-82.
And once the equipment created for the military, helped in the space mission. When the Salyut-7 station was completely de-energized due to the accident in orbit,
LPR-1, photo 6ppc.ru
All those concerned - Happy Defender of the Fatherland Day!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/401751/
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