Why did astronauts bring guns to the sky, was it to kill aliens?
With the popularity of the TV series "Three-Body Problem", "extraterrestrial civilization" has aroused heated discussions among netizens. In the vastness of space, those unknown civilizations are full of imagination, and the fact that astronauts bring guns to the sky provides space for the imagination of the public.
On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Gagarin arrived in space on the Vostok 1 spacecraft, and then circled the earth and returned to Earth, becoming the first person in history to reach space.
Recently, the astronauts of Shenzhou 17 also brought guns to the sky, so why did the astronauts bring guns to the sky? Is it to prevent the invasion of extraterrestrial civilizations, or is it for other purposes?
1. The mystery of the astronauts taking to the sky with guns
Gagarin was the pride of the Soviet Union, and later countries used the Soviet Union as a mirror in the history of civilization in space exploration.
On October 15, 2003, Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei successfully entered space and Shenzhou 5 was successfully launched, which made the development of China's aerospace science and technology to the forefront of the world, and he himself became the first astronaut in Chinese history.
This is a milestone in China's aerospace industry, so when launching Shenzhou 5, all departments were fully prepared: sending Yang Liwei into space was a great cause, so his entourage was checked and arranged one by one, including a pistol.
This pistol is very small, it is an automatic pistol, and the sound of the fire is very small, and it can be shot at targets within 50 years.
The pistol was close to him when Yang Liwei ascended to the sky, and then he landed safely on the ground, and the pistol was returned to the security services. An unused pistol doesn't seem to be necessary, but during every subsequent launch of the Shenzhou spacecraft, the pistol was at the astronaut's side.
So, why does the Aviation Authority have such an arrangement?
In fact, the lessons of the Soviet Union are ahead, even if the pistol is not used, it must be brought with it.
On June 6, 1971, the Soviet Union successfully launched the Soyuz-11 spacecraft and docked with the space station. At that time, the Soviet Union was engaged in an arms race with the U.S. military, and the fact that it was able to set up a space station in space was enough to show that the strength of the Soviet Union was terrifying to the extreme, and the value brought by these three astronauts to the country was incomparable.
They live together, explore together, help each other, and protect each other in the space station.
In order to allow the astronauts to successfully stay on the space station for the scheduled time, the Soviet space agency made full safety preparations for them, fortunately, the three astronauts did not make mistakes, they spent 23 days, 18 hours and 22 minutes on the space station, which is the world's longest manned space flight record, and it is also a benchmark for other countries to develop space technology.
It is worth mentioning that during this space mission, the three astronauts did not bring guns, and of course, no one could have imagined that they would not return safely.
Originally, the mission of exploration had been completed, but when returning, when the return capsule was properly separated from the orbit, a pressure valve suddenly opened unexpectedly due to the compression of the internal and external pressure walls.
The three astronauts didn't have time to react, the air pressure in the cabin quickly decreased, and the three of them actually suffocated to death in just a few seconds.
Although the accident does not seem to have much to do with the gun, space safety is still an important indicator for the development of space technology.
Therefore, in the future, the development of aerospace technology was continued, and astronauts would carry a pistol in the sky.
Second, the experience of the Soviet Union from several times has been provided
As a convenient weapon, the gun can be used for self-defense and can be used for attack.
At that time, it seemed that astronauts carrying guns to the sky were not for self-defense, because judging from the conditions of scientific and technological development at that time, "extraterrestrial civilization" had not become the content of space exploration, so the astronauts at that time had only one goal in carrying guns to the sky, that is, to use them for self-protection on the ground.
On March 18, 1965, the Soviet Union launched the Ascent-2 manned spacecraft, and there were two cosmonauts on the mission, namely Berileev and Leonov.
In space, the two of them had to walk in space according to the original plan, Leonov slowly walked out of the spacecraft, and was active in space for 24 minutes, which was a major step in the history of human space exploration, and then, they flew in space for another 26 hours and two minutes, and after all the tasks, the spacecraft returned.
Due to the immaturity of technology and conditions at that time, the astronauts of the two countries encountered an unexpected situation on the way back, the rocket failed, and the two of them had to manually ignite, and this change also caused the spacecraft to deviate from the original planned route, and the final landing location was also changed - the two were supposed to land in the steppe, but ended up in the woods of Western Siberia, Urals.
Today, Siberia is still an underdeveloped region of Russia, with dense trees, a cold climate, and many birds and animals, which are full of dangers. high
The tall birch forest is very likely to puncture the cabin, and the rubble and large rocks on the ground are enough to injure two astronauts during landing.
The two of them had broken through the birch forest in a spaceship, and they were in danger when they landed, because the birch forest had been baptized by a blizzard not long ago, so the snow was so thick and so lush that the hatch of the return capsule was blocked by a birch tree, and the two of them struggled to open the hatch in the cabin.
The Soviet space agency immediately dispatched relevant personnel to search and rescue after discovering that the signal was missing, but in the vast woods, they could not find any trace of the two, no one thought which cave they would fall in, and no one would know which deserted place they would struggle to survive.
The two of them immediately contacted the space agency after leaving the hatch, only to find that the spacecraft's communication channel had been damaged, and there was no signal around it, so they could only use the most simple method - draw a large Morse code distress signal on the snow.
In addition to this, they also used all the bright objects to be placed on the ground, just to be detected by the signals from the sky.
Even though the Russian race is collectively known as a fighting people, when faced with dangerous creatures such as brown bears and wild wolves, human power cannot compete with them, and these two cosmonauts can only survive in the wilderness carefully, waiting alone in the dark and cold.
Finally, two days later, the two were spotted by helicopters, who were also found by rescuers and taken back to China.
This incident once again sounded the alarm bell for the Soviet space agency: it would be a great loss if the astronauts died unexpectedly when they returned to the ground because they could not protect themselves.
Therefore, in order to avoid this unexpected situation, it is best for the space agency to provide astronauts with self-defense, and pistols are the best choice when it comes to lightness, simplicity and speed.
3. Mainland astronauts must be equipped with guns when they go to space
With the lessons of the Soviet Union on several occasions, the mainland has also taken various factors into account in developing space technology.
Therefore, Yang Liwei and Shenzhou 17 were also equipped with guns when they went to the sky to be able to be close to themselves.
The launch of Yang Liwei and Shenzhou-5 was a big step in China's space expansion, and in order to ensure the success of the mission, Yang Liwei wore a portable pistol, and before becoming an astronaut, he was a soldier in an air force.
For soldiers, guns are the most secure thing, and in order to prevent the occurrence of Soviet cosmonauts, Yang Liwei is the best way to hold a gun. Fortunately, the task was successfully completed, and Yang Liwei's gun did not come in handy in the end.
Although Yang Liwei succeeded, accidents occurred from time to time during the launch of the Shenzhou spacecraft later.
On October 12, 2005, Shenzhou-6 was launched, and two astronauts, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, took off, and they stayed in the space station for more than four days, completed a series of observations and exploration results, and obtained a lot of useful information.
Due to the impact of a hurricane on the return of the capsule, they deviated from their original course, exactly as happened to the Soviet cosmonauts. Fortunately, they landed on the grassland of Inner Mongolia, although the place was also deserted, but in the mainland, the environment was not very bad, so the search and rescue team quickly found them.
With the successful example of Yang Liwei and the accident of Shenzhou 6 in front of it, the space agency did not dare to take it lightly.
After all, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng were also fully prepared at that time, but they still encountered twists and turns, which is enough to show that the safety of aerospace is very important.
Many netizens think that if the astronauts do not land in the predetermined place when they return, but instead descend into the territory of other countries, will they be held hostage by other countries?
In reality, this is not the case.
In 1988, the mainland joined the Rescue Agreement organized by various countries and became one of the signatories.
In the agreement, the countries agreed that if an astronaut landed in any of the States parties, the country would need to rescue and assist the spacecraft and personnel, and notify the United Nations until the spacecraft and personnel returned safely to their homeland.
Despite the treaty, there are still many unknown dangers associated with landing in the territory of other countries and in other countries, and equipping astronauts with a gun is the best option to greatly improve their sense of security and protect themselves.
On October 26, 2023, the Shenzhou-17 spacecraft carrying three astronauts successfully lifted off and arrived at the Chinese space station.
Every astronaut is a one-in-a-million talent, so they are brought with the best equipment and protection.
It is precisely because of this that the Shenzhou spacecraft has carried out many missions, and 32 people have been sent into space, with a success rate of 100%.
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, as a superpower, it had brought a good demonstration role to the exploration of the earth's civilization, and its arms race with the United States also caused the science and technology of various countries to grow exponentially. With the Soviet Union, the mainland's space agency was able to follow suit and create its own fruits.