An escape pod, escape capsule, life capsule, or lifepod is a capsule or craft, usually only big enough for one person, used to escape from a vessel in an emergency. An escape ship is a larger, more complete craft also used for the same purpose. Escape pods are ubiquitous in science fiction but are only used in a few real vehicles.
Real life
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Because they were intended to fly too high and fast for safe use of conventional , the Bell X-2, B-58 Hustler, XB-70 Valkyrie, F-111 and B‑1A Lancer all used enclosed escape crew capsules of some kind.
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A similar concept OSCAR (Optimum Survival Containment and Recovery), was intended for the Vought F-8 Crusader.
[Naval Aviation News, July 1971][ navy.mil]
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The single submarine of the Soviet Union "Mike"-class, K-278 Komsomolets had an escape capsule, which was jettisoned upon its sinking in 1989. Other Soviet submarines like the Oscar-class are only rumored to have escape capsules. During the sinking of the Kursk, the crew was unable to reach it. Also the Typhoon-class is rumored to have escape pods located near or in the sail. Evidence for this can be found in a German documentary on the Typhoon-class submarine Severstal. The Shishumar class submarine has an IKL-designed integrated escape sphere. The sphere has accommodations for the entire crew with an eight-hour air supply.
Fiction
Escape pods are frequently depicted as being used by large spacecraft in science fiction, for example the Millennium Falcon in
Star Wars, the Axiom in
WALL-E, and the vessels of
Starfleet in
Star Trek. The 1981 film
Lifepod and the 1993 TV film of the same name both revolve around such vehicles.
See also
External links