The station had living areas for cosmonauts, engines, and solar panels. These were similar to other space stations. Due to its military nature, it also had some special equipment. There was a space telescope and several cameras, all for looking at the Earth. A small spacecraft called the Earth-return capsule stored film and could come back to Earth on its own. It was also possible for cosmonauts to develop film on the station and send back the images using a TV system. Salyut 3 also had an onboard cannon (large gun), based on a design used on aircraft.