The Soviet Laser Pistol Designed For Fights In Space
Set phasers for communist
The American space shuttle program was a huge step forward for human space travel. It was the first reusable spaceship and helped to bring crew and cargo to and from orbit. It was seen as the next phase of human development.
But in the Soviet Union, the space shuttle looked like something entirely different. The shuttle’s ability to open up and deploy satellites had many in the Soviet Union suspicious. They thought that the shuttle was designed for another purpose entirely. The shuttle was designed to steal Soviet satellites.
Instead of going up and releasing new American satellites, the communists believed that the shuttle was going to go up empty, open up and scoop up sensitive Soviet satellites and bring them back to NATO.
This paranoia led to a new weapon program in the USSR. The space laser pistol. The design was launched in 1984 in order to combat the sneaky satellite stealing space shuttle program.
A powerful flashbulb
The proposed laser pistol was not lethal. We still (allegedly) do not have lasers…
