Escape pod/Legends

Escape pod "Time to abandon ship!"

- General Grievous

Escape pods, also known as lifepods or lifeboats, were small escape craft for use in emergencies. They were standard aboard all deep-space starships.

History


The Tantive IV carried eight six-being escape pods, all very simple in construction. Explosive separator charges ejected such pods away from the ship, and the escape pod's distress beacon was automatically activated upon launch, although the astromech droid R2-D2 deactivated the distress beacon on his escape pod just before touchdown on Tatooine in order to throw off Imperial pursuit. General Grievous also used the escape pods on the Invisible Hand, and Yoda flew one to Dagobah.

Characteristics
While there were probably as many different types of escape pods as there were starships, they all shared a few characteristics. The interior of an escape pod was spartan&mdash;passengers were expected to use the pod only for a few hours. Some pods seated as few as two people, while larger pods could carry over a dozen beings. Padded g-couches protected occupants from injury.



A simple piloting station provided access to the sensor, communication, and flight control systems, although the shipboard systems were heavily automated so the escape pod could land without a pilot at the controls. Sensors provided atmosphere as well as radiation and gravitational information about nearby planets, and a limited comm transceiver scanned for activity on standard communication frequencies. Emergency homing beacons were also standard, often at least as powerful as an OmniNode Communications Set. Many escape pods were equipped with limited hyperspace capability to facilitate travel to a planet on which to land.

The interior compartments carried up to two weeks of rations, including food, water, survival shelters, medpacs, breath masks, glow rods, and comlinks. Galactic law often required escape pods to be fitted with a medkit and at least one medpac, though many times these regulations weren't followed. Sometimes an escape pod's emergency supplies included a civilian hunting blaster. In emergencies, survivors could use the escape pod as a shelter while seeking more adequate protection.



Escape pods had simple drive systems with just enough fuel to orient the pod toward the nearest habitable planet and assist in emergency braking during landing. In some pods, parachutes, maneuvering jets, flotation devices, or repulsorlift drive units slowed planetary descent and cushioned landing.

Notable models

 * Class-6 escape pod
 * E3-standard starship lifeboat
 * Escape Pod Deluxe
 * Homemade evacuation pod