OT: Russian "Almaz" Space Station

[CStock88]

http://www.rusadventures.com/tour19.shtml

I found this rather interesting, seeing as I'm big on space and science and stuff. Apparently, back in "The Day", as they say, the Soviets designed this little beauty for, ah, reconnaissance, I suppose (at least, that was what was alliterated to in the original article - I won't post it here, however, as it links directly to a gaming website.)

Well, anyways, the important part of it all... apparently, the Almaz was armed with a 23mm anti-aircraft cannon. Also, apparently, the Soviets - as part of their Salyut program, or some such - managed to actually test-fire the darned thing, in space - supposedly proving, once in for all, that guns do, in fact, work in space.

Of course, if you know about the chemical reactions that occur during a gun firing, this shouldn't be that much of a leap of faith for you.

The space station is also referred to on NOVA. And, if you happen to be in Russia, according to the website, you can pay a hefty price tag, and sit in the gunner's seat of one of the Almaz space modules.

So yeah. I thought it was cool. And I thought I would share it with you all.