The Class-6 escape pod was a standard emergency craft created by Corellian Engineering Corporation and used on many of their designs, such as the CR90 corvette.
Characteristics[]
The Class-6 escape pod was equipped with four escape thrusters, and several maneuvering thrusters positioned around the pod.
Each pod could carry up to six individuals and was fitted with a viewscreen connected to externally mounted holocameras.
The escape pod was designed to accommodate only living passengers.[2]
History[]
During the first battle of Tatooine in the Galactic Civil War, the Corellian corvette Tantive IV was captured and boarded by the Imperials. Meanwhile, R2-D2 — the astromech droid onboard, who carried the stolen plans of the first Death Star — overrode a Class-6 escape pod's computer to allow mechanicals to enter. R2-D2 and C-3PO, his protocol droid companion escaped the beleaguered Tantive IV in the pod and crash landed on Tatooine with it.[2]
Imperial escort carriers utilized by Storm commandos also carried Class-6 escape pods, or another escape pod of a similar make.[3]
Behind the scenes[]
The escape pod model constructed for A New Hope was built by Industrial Light & Magic in one week. It was a rush job that consisted of two one-gallon paper paint buckets stuck on top of each other. The top one was truncated, but the bottom one was left whole. Lorne Peterson was one of the modelmakers involved with this project.
During the Wedge Campaign mission Relics of Geonosis, several escape pods were seen ejected from Sarkli Piett's Imperial escort carrier and littered around on Geonosis that were given a similar design to the Class-6 escape pods, although it was not made clear if they were intended to be Class-6.
Appearances[]
- "When the Desert Wind Turns: The Stormtrooper's Tale" — Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina
- Empire 8
- Star Wars Journal: Captive to Evil
- Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
- Star Wars: A New Hope novelization (and unabridged audiobook) (First appearance in book)
- Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope junior novelization
- Star Wars (1977) 1
- Droids (1986) 6
- Super Star Wars
- Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided
- The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader (Indirect mention only)
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
Non-canon appearances[]
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
- LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
- LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Sources[]
- 1977 Topps Star Wars Series 3 (Card: The Escape Pod is jettisoned!) (backup link)
- Artoo Detoo's Activity Book
- Star Wars (Pack: Land of the Jawas playset) (backup link)
- Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (Picture only)
- The Star Wars Sourcebook (Picture only)
- The Star Wars Sourcebook, Second Edition (Picture only)
- Star Wars Screen Entertainment
- Star Wars Technical Journal of the Rebel Forces (as Corellian Corvette Escape Pod)
- Star Wars Customizable Card Game — Premiere Limited (Card: Escape Pod) (backup link)
- ° Star Wars: The Power of the Force toy line (1995)
- The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels
- Star Wars: The Action Figure Archive
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike: The Official Nintendo Player's Guide
- Episode IV Visual Guide — Chapter 4: Artoo's Mission on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
- Millennium Falcon Owner's Workshop Manual (Picture only)
- Star Wars: The Card Game — Edge of Darkness (Card: The Tatooine Crash) (Picture only)
Notes and references[]
External links[]
- Hyperspace Celebrity Talk with Lorne Peterson on StarWars.com Message Boards. (content obsolete and backup link not available)