10 Most-Terrifying Space Weapons

10. Space Lasers (Both Handheld And Cannon-Sized)

Space Lasers
AP

Laser guns may seem to be something that you would only ever find in Star Wars - but unbelievably they have actually been developed in the past to be used in space. In terms of handheld weaponry, just as you would see a Stormtrooper using in Star Wars, the USSR developed a prototype energy weapon for their cosmonauts in 1984.

Using a magazine to reload, this weapon used pyrotechnic flashbulb technology in order to project a beam at a person up to 20metres away. Although they were never actually manufactured and sent into space, the possibility of a laser war is something that should put the frighteners up you...

Another futuristic creation developed and proposed by both the Soviets and the Americans during the Cold War was a rocket, shuttle or satellite that could house a laser rocket - meaning long-range laser beams could be fired either at Earth or other objects.

In fact, the Soviets even claimed in 1984 that they managed to fire a combination of ruby and carbon-dioxide lasers at the US' Terra-3 site to target the Space Shuttle Challenger, and that it caused the spacecraft to malfunction and the crew to feel distress. The US denied this story, but the Soviets were adamant...

 
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Contributor

NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.