While Han Solo was waving a converted Mauser in Star Wars, Soviet engineers were developing the most real space weapons that could be used right on the orbital station. Preparing to take over space? Quite possible.
The laser pistol was developed by specialists who implemented the project of the military space station "Almaz" several years earlier. It was equipped with an orbital cannon, and a laser pistol designed for astronauts remained a classified project for a long time.
In Soviet archives, the laser pistol was described as an individual self-defense weapon in orbit. But even in the paranoid atmosphere of the Cold War, it is difficult to imagine a scenario in which a "likely adversary" takes a space station by storm.
However, the laser pistol was not intended to defeat enemy personnel. It was needed to effectively disable the sensitive elements of optical systems: it was assumed that a successful shot could send an enemy satellite into endless wanderings in endless space.
The laser pistol has never (at least officially) been put into service. Now it can be seen in the Museum of the Strategic Missile Forces Military Academy named after Peter the Great.
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