Editing Intrepid Class (section)

==LIFEBOATS==

Pods are located on almost all decks. Each pod can support a total of eighty-six person-days (meaning, one person can last eighty-six days, two can last for forty-three, etc.). Two pods are reserved for the top four officers in the chain of command on the Intrepid class, because they are the last four to leave the ship. These are located on Deck 1, just aft of the bridge. As the number of experienced Captains dwindles in Starfleet, the notion of a Captain going down with his ship has been abolished. If the ship is abandoned, the top four officers in the chain of command will wait until everyone else is off the ship, opt to arm the auto-Destruct (not always necessary, but there if needed), and then leave in the two escape pods. The current lifepods are called ASRVs, or autonomous survival and recovery vehicles. 

In situations when the base vessel is not near a habitable system, up to four ASRVs may be linked together in a chain at junction ports to share and extend resources.

In extreme circumstances or where additional capability is required, the entire bridge module of the Intrepid class starship can be ejected and maneuver away on its own thrusters. Since this is more time consuming than ejecting pods, this procedure is reserved only for situations where time is not critical.