A travel pod was a small Federation shuttle predominately used during the 23rd century by facilities like the orbital office complex and Spacedock to transfer personnel to drydocks or spaceships without having to use transporters. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture, et al.)
Technical information
The travel pod was a small craft that was hexagon shaped from port to starboard, with an overall boxy egg-shaped design, narrowing from fore to aft, with a slightly sloped front, and a circular docking port mounted to the flatted rear section of the pod.
It sported a large observation window in front, and thrusters propelled the craft from the rear. Additional circular ports were located on the pod's dorsal and ventral sides.
A travel pod's interior cabin
The interior also included a helm for piloting the craft and communications equipment capable of sending and receiving audio transmissions.
The cockpit area of these pods could be flown with with or without two front seats; cushioned passenger benches lined along the rear of the inside walls. They could be piloted by a single individual while transporting up to seven passengers. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
Shuttles of this type
Appendices
Appearances
Background information
Travel pods were identified by name in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
At least two travel pods that were numbered differently from those seen in the film have appeared in Paramount-licensed works. In early concept paintings that production illustrator Michael Minor created for The Motion Picture, a travel pod numbered "4" can be seen. (The Art of Star Trek, pp. 15-153, 168-169) The Star Trek Encyclopedia (1st ed., p. 350) had a diagram of a travel pod labeled 06.
In the book Ships of the Line (pp. 74-75), the travel pod was classified as a Mark II-B pod.
For information on the studio model, see: Travel pod model
External link
- Federation travel pod at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
