Guide:Class D3 (pod)

Class D3
Class Overview
Category	work pod
Operational	2164-2237
Constructed	2,000+
Dimensions
Length	2.1 m (manipulators stowed)
Beam	2.2 m
Height	2.3 m
Mass	0.84 tons
Performance
Cruise Speed	sublight (thrusters)
Max Speed	sublight (thrusters)
Endurance	2 days
Complement
Crew	1
Canonicity
Design	Game-canon
Name	Game-canon
History	Game-canon

At the very lowest end of the scale for maintenance spacecraft, the Class D3 pod was in essence a heavy, rigid spacesuit, albeit with four manipulators and tooling. Between the 2160s and the 2240s, the pod was rather popular in Starfleet, even with the ungainly vision dome and the gangly dexterous manipulators. The central cylinder would lie horizontally in the rail beds, with the forwardmost hatch swinging up, to allow the operator to crawl in.

The basic D3-10 variant featured four tentacle-type manipulators, each allowing for the self-attachment of one of five or more specific tools from the tool platform stowed on the ventral body. There was no separate anchoring arm, beam or gravitic grapple, stationkeeping being left to the thruster system and any spare manipulator's clamp tool.

As a typical cruiser or frigate design featured four or more auxilary airlocks, two were typically occupied by a Class D3 repair pod; one would contain a special sensors pod (itself typically a variant of the Class D3, found both in crewed and uncrewed variants) and one would be left free for deploying the wide range of payloads stocked aboard. Airlock launches gave extremely rapid reaction capability for time-critical repair and containment work – an operator could dive into the pod without prior preparation, hitting a starter button while entering and performing a clean ejection just fifteen seconds from the securing of hatch seals. The rail bed would guide the venting process's influence on the pod, providing optional initial delta-vee, but a “swim-out” launching was far more typical.

Two-day endurance assumed standard life support conditions (i.e. no onboard fires or toxic releases) and moderate use of maneuvering propellant, a crucial resource when gravitic propulsion was lacking. In theory, a hibernation mode was available, with onboard medication to keep the occupant alive for up to eight days without food or water and a minimum of breathing air. Standard beacons were provided to assist recovery of an incapacitated pod. There are some survival stories of ingenious use of personal items for gaining the attention of another vessel, made possible by the access airlocks. At times, the D3 even saw combat use of sorts, with the user’s hand weapon drawn by a manipulator limb, when stowed in the tool platform.

Use of pods dwindled in the late 2220s, and station pods were eliminated in the latter portion of the decade.

Gallery

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Notes

• The article was originally designed by a very odd eight-armed cylindrical model (the Class D6 in Timo's version of the Guide), with only one very poor image. The 'egg' images provided here were selected to replace that poor image, however the description of the cylinder being launched through a tube no longer seemed to be applicable, so the text was changed accordingly. Additionally, the operational time range was moved far earlier, to allow for the unique style (in opposition to the TOS period) and to make room for a transitional work bee pod (the present Class D6).

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• Appendix B: Glossary
• Appendix C: Starfleet Organization - General Outline
• Appendix D: Abbreviations From Outside