Starfleet Lifeboats

[throwback]

The TNG: Technical Manual stated that the first Autonomous Survival and Recovery Vehicle (ASRV) were installed aboard the Renaissance-class starship USS Hokkaido in 2337.

Based on visual evidence, in the non-canonical Ships of the Line calendars, another Miranda-class medium cruiser, the USS Leonov, was equipped with ASRVs.

For myself, I am unable to conceptualize how the shuttle bays of the Saratoga could accommodate both their normal complement of shuttles and the escape pods.

Finally, escape pods, or lifeboats, have been a feature of starship technology since the second pilot for the The Original Series.

Kelso:

No, sir. It's too small to be a vessel. It only reads about one metre in diameter.

Spock:

Not large enough even for a lifeboat.

 

[Caesar753]

The Defiant had lifeboats hidden under hinged hull panels that weren't normally visible (seen in The Changing Face of Evil, Valiant). After seeing this, I assumed that other ships without visible lifeboats had a similar setup.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Why mark anything on the starship's hull.

Well, my point was if the lifeboat hatches on the early starships are flush with the hull to the point where they blend in, why paint them a separate color if you don't have to? You can just stencil a hatch with a number or a code that dockyard workers can see during an EVA of the ship.

They are covered with markings identifying docking ports, access panels, etc. If those things are marked, it stands to reason escape pods would be to.

Essentially what I suggested above. We could just say that any kind of escape pod hatch markings on those early ships are so small that you can only see them if you're within a few feet. Any further away, they essentially disappear from view, but they're still there nonetheless. That would solve the issue of ships with no apparent escape pod hatches, IMO.

 

[MatthiasRussell]

^I'm not disagreeing with the plausibility. In fact, the more I consider this topic the more open I am to the idea.

But in regards to how this concept was introduced on screen:

The Defiant had lifeboats hidden under hinged hull panels that weren't normally visible (seen in The Changing Face of Evil, Valiant). After seeing this, I assumed that other ships without visible lifeboats had a similar setup.

As I said in an earlier post, I assumed this was a special case in regards to the defiant since it had special ablative hull plating instead of conventional starfleet hull plating.

 

[Timo]

Didn't they escape in runabouts? I remember that scene using the runabout set and the view through the window showing the shuttle leaving the shuttle bay.

Yes, it was the runabout set, combined with the exterior of a completely differently shaped vehicle. The DS9 Tech Manual directly refers to that, describing how the cockpit section of the Danube class runabout was engineered out of "existing hybrid shuttlecraft-lifeboat escape craft systems"...

Take that as seriously as you wish. For all we know, the craft seen in "Emissary" were shuttles rather than single-purpose escape systems.

Also, look at modern warships. Their lifeboats are exposed, on display, and easily targeted.

Previously, when gunfire was an issue in naval warfare, lifeboats where shoved overboard in anticipation of battle. Not to hide or protect them, but to prevent them from becoming a source of shrapnel. Today, lifeboats are hidden behind hatches and covers to keep them from being radar reflectors. There's the added benefit of protecting them from the elements - a major concern with vertical launch systems and other modern modular gear as well. It shouldn't be difficult to mix and match such historical rationales to create a good reason for TOS era Starfleet to "hide" its lifeboats.

It launched from the shuttlebay and had a pilot and copilot as a shuttle would.

And perhaps a lifeboat as well. We've never actually seen how lifepods are crewed and operated elsewhere in Trek, after all: perhaps each and every design calls for someone to take over the controls?

Thanks for the two explicit dialogue references to lifeboats in TOS/TFS! One might wriggle with the TOS one and say that alien starfleets and perhaps the ancient Earth exploration ships use lifeboats (which is why Spock considers the possibility), whereas the modern UFP Starfleet uses something different. But there's no pressing reason to wriggle.

The TNG: Technical Manual stated that the first Autonomous Survival and Recovery Vehicle (ASRV) were installed aboard the Renaissance-class starship USS Hokkaido in 2337.

...Thus the ships in 2278-2337 probably predominantly used the Advanced Escape System, while the ships in 2251-2278 had the Assured Long Term Survival Shelter. Or whatever name or acronym each era wanted to slap on its lifeboats.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[MatthiasRussell]

It launched from the shuttlebay and had a pilot and copilot as a shuttle would.

And perhaps a lifeboat as well. We've never actually seen how lifepods are crewed and operated elsewhere in Trek, after all: perhaps each and every design calls for someone to take over the controls?

I don't believe an escape pod should require someone with pilot training. An escape pod should be automated so that anyone should be able to jump in, push a button, and punch out. The concept of an escape pod is you need leave in a hurry and anyone should be able to operate.

The same should be more or less true of a lifeboat. To me the difference between an escape pod and a lifeboat is a lifeboat would be a little bigger, made to self-sustain longer, and have slightly better propulsion abilities.

When you look at the FC lifeboats the Sovereign class has, the lifeboats have heat shields for entering atmospheres. I seem to recall in the Generations/FC art book showed the lifeboats having a few sets around the center without a pilot's seat.

 

[Timo]

I don't believe an escape pod should require someone with pilot training.

...And I don't believe "Emissary" indicates that the pilot of that means of escape had special training. Everybody seems to be capable of flying a shuttlecraft - but OTOH no shuttlecraft flies itself, except perhaps during eventless sublight stretches.

I seem to recall in the Generations/FC art book showed the lifeboats having a few sets around the center without a pilot's seat.

...But none of that made it to the screen.

The only Starfleet/UFP/human lifeboat we have seen from the inside was the little thing that landed Kirk to Delta Vega in the alternate reality. And that's assuming that the thing was even a lifeboat. Being fired from a docking port would seem a bit limiting for a means of mass evacuation in an emergency. Perhaps the unique services provided by that single-person craft (called "the pod" by its computer) were designed for infiltration missions rather than evacuation?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Verteron]

Even if it wasn't a runabout, it was still a shuttlecraft, not a lifeboat/escape pod. It launched from the shuttlebay and had a pilot and copilot as a shuttle would. It appeared the crew still had to make it to a shuttle bay to escape.

I'm not so sure.

A shuttle launch is normally slow and controlled, involving a lift off stage then exit of the shuttlebay through a force field. This launch was neck-bracing (watch the pilots being glued to their seat), much more of an 'ejection' type launch, maybe from a electromagnetic or mechanical catapult arrangement.

If it was a shuttle it must have been designed with this alternative 'quick launch' mode, but I rather think it was a large lifeboat that happened to be placed in or near the shuttlebay, possibly unstashed from storage within the shuttlebay during an emergency, and launched with a kinetic system rather than under its own power.

My $0.02 anyways.

 

[publiusr]

The Miranda-class USS Saratoga's lifeboats seemed to consist of a few large shuttle-type craft rather than the smaller 3 man 'pods' imagined for the Enterprise-D. We see them in the Borg cube battle scene in DS9's Emissary.

Found a video - here.

My guess is that older ships had a smaller number of large lifeboats, which with time and improvements in technology ended up being less effective than a large number of small lifeboats adopted for the Galaxy class, etc.

I had thought those were mega lifeboats that fit the entire width of the old Miranda shuttlebay.

I seem to remember refit-era lifeboats that were inflatable that worker bees attached to on top, as opposed to a lot of little 1-3 man deals like suliban or swarm vessels
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Swarm_species


Like the Suliban Rick also wanted Galaxy class lifeboats to mate and form larger structures in a pinch--a spacegoing MASH outfit--a hooverville of sorts.
http://archive.propworx.com/1008/Original_Concept_Art_of_Rick_Sternbach/
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/The...t_Generation:_Build_the_Enterprise_NCC-1701-D
http://8of5.blogspot.com/2011/11/build-enterprise-part-work-that-never.html

Worf had a Bird of Prey lifeboat once.

I seem to remember one turbolift lifeboat with a telescoping bottom to privide more room/crsh space. That and a parachute on top.

 

[blssdwlf]

A shuttle launch is normally slow and controlled, involving a lift off stage then exit of the shuttlebay through a force field. This launch was neck-bracing (watch the pilots being glued to their seat), much more of an 'ejection' type launch, maybe from a electromagnetic or mechanical catapult arrangement.

The original TOS launch FX had the shuttles launching (or catapulting) from rails. But, the Saratoga escape could go either way being either a shuttle escape or a dedicated lifeboat.

 

[Solarbaby]

I like what the "Federation Officer's Manual" (I think it was) did. For the TOS Enterprise, they postulated that the turbolift cars doubled as lifeboats. They could just pack the people in, then eject them from strategically located ejection points.

That seems silly to me. What if there was an internal power failure or obstacle blocking the turboshafts? It would be the towering inferno all over again. Plus life boats are equipped with life support and thrusters possible impulse engines. All this inside a turbolift? Thats like driving a car with the back seat filled up with concrete slabs. Extremely inefficient. I doubt Starfleet would ever use that concept.

 

[nightwind1]

I like what the "Federation Officer's Manual" (I think it was) did. For the TOS Enterprise, they postulated that the turbolift cars doubled as lifeboats. They could just pack the people in, then eject them from strategically located ejection points.

That seems silly to me. What if there was an internal power failure or obstacle blocking the turboshafts? It would be the towering inferno all over again. Plus life boats are equipped with life support and thrusters possible impulse engines. All this inside a turbolift? Thats like driving a car with the back seat filled up with concrete slabs. Extremely inefficient. I doubt Starfleet would ever use that concept.

Each lift car would have it's own power. And EVERY shaft wouldn't be blocked by obstacles all at the same time. And who knows how small rudimentary thrusters and basic life support can be in the 23rd century?

Here's the diagram I mentioned. It IS from the USS Enterprise Officers Manual:
http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcar...l/USS-Enterprise-Officers-Manual_Page_040.jpg

 

[Timo]

I had thought those were mega lifeboats that fit the entire width of the old Miranda shuttlebay.

Not judging by the interior set, or the matching of exterior windows with interior ones. One could probably stack half a dozen of those in the side alcoves postulated for each of the Miranda shuttlebays by Mike Rupprecht and pals in their blueprints. Or then hang them from the ceiling, and lower them down on the bay floor for boarding.

What if there was an internal power failure or obstacle blocking the turboshafts?

Such things could affect more conventional lifepods as well. At some point, internal damage would block the way to the safety of space. It might be a good idea to face that blockage in a potentially survivable turbocab than in shirtsleeves.

I guess turbolift cabs would be the second-lowermost tier in a multi-tier survival system, though. They would be the analogy to the tables of certain water buses and taxis - buoyant, and intended to be thrown overboard to complement the regular liferafts. The lowermost tier would be individual spacesuits, analogous to life jackets. But the survivability of the lower tiers would be enhanced by the use of higher-tier systems such as dedicated lifeboats and powered liaison craft, just like in today's ships.

Agreed that the idea of stacking turbocabs with survival gear is a bit silly. But that depends on the level of gear included. No phasers - they would be more trouble than worth. No food. But perhaps a bit of water and air and light and heat and a quick snack for those cases where the cab simply gets stuck. Things that could be stored almost indefinitely, and would come in handy if the cab eventually had to serve as am escape system element.

The original TOS launch FX had the shuttles launching (or catapulting) from rails.

...Although they probably didn't want us to notice that.

I think a rapid launch is always an option regardless of the type of craft used. After all, shuttles can make interplanetary journeys in a very short time, meaning they must be capable of maintaining a steady acceleration of dozens of gees without any sort of external catapults or the like. And more probably, they can routinely do hundreds of gees.

Timo Saloniemi