Emergencies, evacuation and lifeboats

Key results

• Do docked vehicles have to hold everyone?
• Paul451: attached vehicles must hold the entire complement, with evacuation via a single lifeboat for all. He favours two independent nodes (or a bulkheaded node) and cross-connect tubes between arms that avoid the node Paul451, 2019-03-31.
• Aussie: one lifeboat per hab, with occupants limited to lifeboat capacity Aussie_Space_Nut, 2019-04-01. mikelepage: an escape pod per module mikelepage, 2016-01-13.
• Twark_Main: one ship suffices, two lifeboats are nice Twark_Main, 2024-03-23.
• Physics of release from a spinning station. Release gives no velocity change, only a loss of acceleration (jerk). Lifeboats should be capable of autonomous reentry. Loss of spin means disintegration, so get away Paul451, 2019-03-07; Paul451, 2019-03-08.
• For a first station, Paul451 would simply keep crew transport vehicles for evacuation via the hub Paul451, 2019-03-08.
• Lifeboats can hang under or outside the station, ready to drop KelvinZero, 2016-01-10.
• Lifeboat options:
• Dragon capsules as escape vehicles across the station. Weaknesses: hypergolics and the availability of refurbished units Peter_GST, 2025-04-13.
• Dream Chasers: 40 for 6 passengers each on the Gateway Foundation station (Coastal Ron questions this) Coastal Ron, 2019-02-19; Tywin, 2019-08-31. Voyager's ring of Dream Chasers Twark_Main, 2024-02-25.
  • HTP decomposition limits their on-orbit life ZChris13, 2019-09-01; speedevil, 2019-09-01, and replacing them requires stopping the station high road, 2019-09-02.
• Single-person craft (FlexCraft, "coffin" lifeboats), the MOOSE bailout system, BEAM as a lifeboat Asteroza, 2019-03-08; A_M_Swallow, 2019-03-08; A_M_Swallow, 2019-03-08.
• A rescue ball bag and sled Kansan52, 2019-03-07.
• Ring modules themselves as lifeboats, with fast airlocks and detachment edzieba, 2019-03-10.
• Lifeboats need not reenter; storm shelters and sealable modules can serve AmigaClone, 2022-10-11.
• Peter_GST's "plan C": dumb lifeboat modules with months of life support that await rescue Peter_GST, 2025-04-14. lamontagne adds a tug, with a safe launch window every minute lamontagne, 2025-04-14.
• Elevators as escape pods lamontagne, 2022-11-03.
• Evacuation destinations.
• Coastal Ron: simple space-only lifeboats go to a nearby zero-g support vessel or companion station Coastal Ron, 2019-03-06; Coastal Ron, 2024-02-28; Coastal Ron, 2025-04-14.
• Zed_Noir: in LEO, Earth is the default evacuation, with "Thunderbird" rescue by launch providers Zed_Noir, 2024-02-29.
• Barley: evacuate like cities do, through trade, multiple stations and free-flying zero-g ports Barley, 2022-10-11.
• A 10,000-person station needs ~100 Starship trips to evacuate lamontagne, 2023-02-20.
• Survive in place.
• lamontagne: design the station like a bridge, to survive; compartmentalize (Titanic); avoid ramming risk; keep the taxi small lamontagne, 2019-03-10; lamontagne, 2019-03-10.
• mikelepage: emergency cabinets (extinguisher, MMOD patch kit, a single-use inflatable "body pod" with transponder) instead of reentry vehicles mikelepage, 2024-02-28.
• Seamurda: isolate sections, personal rescue enclosures. Mir/ISS safety cases assume few people Seamurda, 2019-03-06.
• Structural redundancy. Design so a single severed connection doesn't fail the structure ("triple failure criterion") mikelepage, 2018-08-06. Bicycle-spoke tethers keep the ring intact if a rim module breaks Roy_H, 2022-12-08.
• Collision history. The 1997 Mir–Progress collision (EO-23) Twark_Main, 2024-05-26. Coastal Ron: put lifeboats throughout and use sealable sections Coastal Ron, 2024-05-26.
• Lifeboat restocking is an open problem for spinning stations Coastal Ron, 2023-01-07.

Open questions

• Should a spinning station carry reentry-capable lifeboats for everyone, or rely on safe havens and nearby stations?
• How do you board lifeboats in a spinning station during an emergency that has disabled spin control?

Related pages

• Fire safety · Debris and collision · Docking

Sources

Forum posts

• KelvinZero, 2016-01-10 (reply #793): Hanging lifeboats. Post.
• mikelepage, 2016-01-13 (reply #809): Escape pod per module. Post.
• mikelepage, 2018-08-06 (reply #1184): Single severed connection. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2019-02-19 (reply #1306): 40 Dream Chasers questionable. Post.
• Seamurda, 2019-03-06 (reply #1314): Isolate sections. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2019-03-06 (reply #1315): Lifeboats to zero-g vessel. Post.
• Paul451, 2019-03-07 (reply #1316): Release: no ΔV, just jerk. Post.
• Kansan52, 2019-03-07 (reply #1318): Rescue ball. Post.
• A_M_Swallow, 2019-03-08 (reply #1322, 1 like): BEAM lifeboat. Post. Attachments: BEAM_module_expansion_series.jpg.
• Paul451, 2019-03-08 (reply #1323): Autonomous reentry. Post.
• Paul451, 2019-03-08 (reply #1325, 1 like): Keep crew vehicles. Post.
• Asteroza, 2019-03-08 (reply #1326, 1 like): MOOSE; FlexCraft. Post.
• A_M_Swallow, 2019-03-08 (reply #1328, 1 like): Single-person spacecraft. Post.
• edzieba, 2019-03-10 (reply #1335): Modules as lifeboats. Post.
• lamontagne, 2019-03-10 (reply #1336): Like a bridge; compartmentalize. Post. Attachments: Station3_Scene 7.jpg, Station3_Scene 5.jpg, Station3_Scene 6.jpg, Station3b_Scenea.jpg.
• lamontagne, 2019-03-10 (reply #1338): Design to survive. Post.
• Paul451, 2019-03-31 (reply #1460): Vehicles hold entire complement. Post.
• Aussie_Space_Nut, 2019-04-01 (reply #1463): Lifeboat per hab. Post.
• Tywin, 2019-08-31 (reply #1648, 1 like): Dream Chasers as lifeboats. Post. Attachments: 19-0219-Von-Braun-Animations-Dream-Chasers-1-1024x576.jpg.
• ZChris13, 2019-09-01 (reply #1650): HTP limits. Post.
• speedevil, 2019-09-01 (reply #1652, 1 like): HTP gas evolution. Post.
• high road, 2019-09-02 (reply #1656): Replacing lifeboats requires stopping. Post.
• AmigaClone, 2022-10-11 (reply #1995, 2 likes): Lifeboats needn't reenter. Post.
• Barley, 2022-10-11 (reply #1996): Evacuation like cities. Post.
• lamontagne, 2022-11-03 (reply #2312): Elevators as escape pods. Post.
• Roy_H, 2022-12-08 (reply #2593): Spokes keep ring intact. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2023-01-07 (reply #2790): Emergency egress & lifeboat restock. Post.
• lamontagne, 2023-02-20 (reply #3361, 1 like): ~100 Starship trips. Post. Attachments: ring2a.jpg.
• Twark_Main, 2024-02-25 (reply #4497): Dream Chaser ring. Post.
• mikelepage, 2024-02-28 (reply #4499): Emergency cabinets. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2024-02-28 (reply #4500): Zero-G companion station. Post.
• Zed_Noir, 2024-02-29 (reply #4506): Earth default; Thunderbird rescue. Post.
• Twark_Main, 2024-03-23 (reply #4605): One ship suffices. Post.
• Twark_Main, 2024-05-26 (reply #4641): Mir Progress collision. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2024-05-26 (reply #4642): Lifeboats throughout. Post.
• Peter_GST, 2025-04-13 (reply #4861): Dragons as escape vehicles. Post.
• lamontagne, 2025-04-14 (reply #4868): Dumb lifeboats + tug. Post.
• Coastal Ron, 2025-04-14 (reply #4870): Evacuation to zero-G station. Post.
• Peter_GST, 2025-04-14 (reply #4872): Dumb lifeboats. Post.