escape pod n.

a small, minimally equipped spacecraft for emergency use; = lifeboat n.

SF Encyclopedia


Vehicles

  • 1976 G. Lucas Star Wars 14 George Lucas

    Threepio stared, mesmerized, out the small viewport set in the front of the tiny escape pod as the hot yellow eye of Tatooine began to swallow them up.

  • 1991 A. McCaffrey & E. Moon Generation Warriors 101 Anne McCaffrey Elizabeth Moon bibliography

    Thinking of Sassinak reminded him again of her experience in the escape pod.

  • 1998 D. Duane Starrise at Corrivale 131 Diane Duane bibliography

    Both of them had been gutted for salvage but could easily be refitted to house either a sensor bay or even a small weapons compartment. The ship’s escape pod had also been salvaged, but its housing bay seemed in good shape.

  • 1998 E. Moon Rules of Engagement 58 Elizabeth Moon bibliography

    A buddy stuffed me in an escape pod, and when old Cutlass was blown, I was safely away.

  • 2001 T. Zahn Angelmass 329 Timothy Zahn bibliography

    EmDef can have a transport to them in twenty minutes… There’s also a double ring of emergency escape pods set around the tube connecting the catapult and net sections of the station.

  • 2002 P. McAuley Making History 87 Paul J. McAuley bibliography

    ‘It fell into Saturn.’ ‘The scow did, yes. But before it took its dive, it travelled most of the way around the planet within the ring system, long enough to drop off its passengers and cargo in escape pods.’

  • 2002 T. Huff Better Part of Valor 317 Tanya Huff bibliography

    Torin leaned forward, staring through the window into a gray padded interior. It looked like no escape pod she'd ever seen either, but—in a weird way—it looked like all of them.

  • 2019 Y. H. Lee Dragon Pearl xix. 155 Yoon Ha Lee bibliography

    The ensign turned to me. ‘Cadet Jang, tell me another problem with being stuck in a Gate.’ ‘We can’t depart the ship,’ I said. I’d been thinking about this ever since I’d heard of the deserters. ‘No extravehicular activity—no leaving on shuttles or in escape pods, nothing.’


Research requirements

antedating 1976

Earliest cite

George Lucas, 'Star Wars'

Research History
Douglas Winston submitted a cite from a 1999 reprint of Elizabeth Moon's "Rules of Engagement"; Michael Dolbear verified the cite in the 1998 first edition.
Douglas Winston submitted a 2002 cite from Tanya Huff's "The Better Part of Valor".
Douglas Winston submitted a 1991 cite from Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon's "Generation Warriors".
Douglas Winston submitted a 1998 cite from Diane Duane's "Starrise at Corrivale".
Douglas Winston submitted a 2001 cite from Timothy Zahn's "Angelmass".
Malcolm Farmer submitted a cite from a 2002 reprint of Paul McAuley's "Making History".
Adam Canning submitted a 1987 cite from Curtis Smith and Bill Slavicsek's "The Star Wars Source Book".
J Greely submitted a 1976 cite from George Lucas' "Star Wars".
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2019 cite from Yoon Ha Lee.

Last modified 2021-03-31 21:17:36
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.