Re: Book "Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance --- " by Neil de Grasse Tyson

On 5/20/2022 5:25 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
> "a425couple"  wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> 
> I got an interesting book,
> 
> Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and
> the Military (Astrophysics for People in a Hurry Series)
> by Neil de Grasse Tyson  (Author), Avis Lang  (Author) 2018 book
> 
> ----------------
> 
> Pacifists conveniently ignore that the Soviets/Russians have been 
> militarizing space since the early 60's.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almaz
> "In addition to reconnaissance equipment, Almaz was equipped with a 
> unique 23mm Rikhter (factory index 261P or 225P) rapid-fire cannon 
> mounted on the forward belly of the station."
> "The Almaz series are the only known armed, crewed military spacecraft 
> ever flown."
> 
Interesting.
Either I never knew that, or I'd totally forgotten.
I sure would not want to be in that space capsule
when that machine gun was firing!!!!

"Defense measures
In addition to reconnaissance equipment, Almaz was equipped with a 
unique 23mm Rikhter (factory index 261P or 225P) rapid-fire cannon 
mounted on the forward belly of the station. This revolver cannon was 
modified from the tail-gun of the Tu-22 bomber and was capable of a 
theoretical rate of fire of 1800-2000 (up to 2600) rounds per minute. 
Each 168 gram (ammo 23-OFZ-D-R ) or 173 gram (ammo 23-OFZ-G-R) 
projectile flew at a speed of 850 m/s relative to the station. The 
cannon was tested at the end of the mission by firing 20 rounds, when 
the station was operating in uncrewed mode. To aim the cannon, which was 
on a fixed mounting, the entire station would be turned to face the 
target.[7] The Almaz series are the only known armed, crewed military 
spacecraft ever flown.

Salyut 3/OPS-2 conducted a successful remote test firing with the 
station uncrewed due to concerns over excessive vibration and noise.

OPS-4 was to have featured two rockets instead of the aircraft cannon, 
but this system has not been shown publicly and may have never been 
fully manufactured despite it being used experimentally."