11.1 LIFEBOATS
Ever present is the possibility that a ship will become disabled or otherwise damaged to such extent that it can no longer support life. In such situations the crew has to option of abandoning ship by using the Escape Pod system. Each 8-person pod has life support for 3 months in space, and has a maximum speed of 4,200 m/sec. Subspace radio and beacon are permanently activated once the pod is ejected from the ship, to aid in locating the pod. Escaped pods have atmospheric entry and landing capability.
There are no escape pods connected to the bridge. Pods are located on all decks below Deck two. Two pods are reserved for the top four officers in the chain of command, because they are the last four to leave the ship. As the number of experienced Captains dwindles in Starfleet, the notion of a Captain going down with his ship has been abolished. If the ship is abandoned, the top four officers in the chain of command will wait until everyone else is off the ship, opt to arm the auto-Destruct (not always necessary, but there if needed), and then leave in the two escape pods. |
