Escape pod

Escape pods, also known as life pods, were small escape crafts intended for use in emergencies. They were standard aboard all deep-space starships and detach from their host vessels to flee from danger. Some luxury models were fitted with hyperdrives.

Some escape pods were designed to fly into the upper atmosphere and wait to be picked up by a ship, which is how Jedi Master Yoda departed Kashyyyk when Order 66 was declared. Some planets had a network of escape pods that could launch into the upper atmosphere away from danger. Jedi Cal Kestis despised escape pods, which was likely caused by his experience during Order 66, in which Kestis' master, Jaro Tapal, died in front of his Padawan in an escape pod after being mortally wounded by clone troopers. Smaller ships, such as the Millennium Falcon and other light freighters, carried such crafts that could only accommodate one typically-sized humanoid in a fixed, immobile, and straightened position.

During the Battle of Atollon, Alexsandr Kallus used an Imperial escape pod to escape the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Chimaera after incapacitating his stormtrooper escort.

R2-D2 and C-3PO used an escape pod to smuggle the Death Star plans off the Rebel ship Tantive IV. The Star Destroyer Devastator gunnery officers noticed the launch but chose not to fire upon the pod, presuming that it had malfunctioned as they detected no life forms aboard. In order to comply with Senate investigations of possible war crimes, the Devastator would have had to provide justification in accordance with Imperial Naval Regulation 132.CAT.ch(22) to fire upon an escape pod.

Bolin Volfrham used escape pods to transport those he exiled to an unknown planet which had an atmosphere that prevented offworld transmission, including Lando Calrissian. Using a reconstructed escape pod, Calrissian managed to get far enough outside the atmosphere to send a distress signal in order to be rescued.

At the advice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo jettisoned the escape pods of the Millennium Falcon when the ship was caught in the tractor beam of the Death Star. He lamented their loss, as they were expensive, but recognized the value of the move as a ruse and recorded a captain's log stating that he had abandoned the ship.

The Kilji species' escape pods were small, metallic, and cylindrical. An individual aboard the Kilji pods could live for several hours before running out of oxygen. The Kilji war cruisers were equipped with the escape pods. After being launched, they broadcast their location.

Text and facts from the “Escape pod” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.