Fascinating Facts About the International Space Station

4. There is a Gun on the ISS

The ISS is a symbol of global peace. So why is there a gun? Don’t worry; it’s not for some crazy brain-eating space disease.

It’s because the Russian astronauts routinely land in the middle of the wilderness of Russia. They never know what they may encounter there, in particular, big scary bears.

The gun protects them in case they run into one before their ground team can meet them. So far the gun has never been used. But Russian astronauts prefer not taking the risk!