Time travel pod ( 31st century ) The 31st century time travel pod was a small craft , first encountered by in 2152 . The craft was approximately six meter s long , but , due to the advanced application of an unknown spatial phenomenon , was actually bigger on the inside than on the outside . According to information retrieved by Captain Archer and Sub - Commander T ' Pol from ' database , the pod originated almost nine hundred years in the future , and was powered by a temporal displacement drive . The pod also had the ability to absorb electromagnetic radiation , allowing it to remain undetected by the sensor technology of the 22nd century . The pod was equipped with organic circuitry , much more advanced than the technology known to the " Enterprise " crew , and had no visible means of propulsion . The hull of the pod was composed of a number of materials , one of which was in a semi - fluidic state . While in the 22nd century , the pod apparently suffered some sort of critical disaster , leaving it heavily damaged by the time it was discovered by " Enterprise " . Investigating , the crew discovered the of the craft , killed by the accident . It was also discovered that the pod was emitting a form of temporal radiation which had time - distorting and disorienting effects on crew members in close proximity to the craft . Although the pod ' s ultimate function was a mystery to the crew of " Enterprise " , Captain Archer surmised that the pilot may have been an historian , based on an earlier conversation with Daniels which indicated that , in the future , historical studies will be carried out using time travel . Unfortunately , both the Suliban Cabal and Tholian Assembly also learned of the pod ' s existence and sent vessels to retrieve it . Their plans were thwarted , however , when Commander Tucker managed to reactivate the ship ' s temporal beacon . Within seconds of the beacon being activated , the pod , the dead pilot , and the beacon itself , all vanished , presumably having been retrieved by operatives from the future . ( ) Appendices . Background information . In the final draft script of " Future Tense " , the time - travel pod was initially referred to as " a sleek , futuristic vessel " , with a subsequent sentence stating , " " The one - man craft is heavily damaged and scorched , the victim of a disastrous accident . " " The vessel was scripted to be so " charred " that it had a " blackened hull . " The exterior was also described as having " a couple of access panels " which could be opened to reveal " exotic circuitry that ' s been partially melted . " The vessel ' s hatch was scripted to be pulled open by Captain Archer and Lieutenant Reed . However , in the final edit of the episode , Archer pulls it open , using a device . The craft ' s cockpit was described in the script as " darkened " and " cramped " with multiple " control surfaces " and " an exotic - looking pilot ' s chair " . A statement commented , " " The interior of the craft has been incinerated as well . " " The time - pod prop was actually a redress of the cockpit of Zefram Cochrane ' s " Phoenix " from . The nature of the timeship as being " bigger on the inside " is a reference to the long - running British science - fiction series " Doctor Who " , in which the main protagonist , the Doctor , travels through time and space in a Type - 40 TARDIS – a vessel which outwardly appears to be a 1960s - era police box and is much bigger on the inside than it is on the outside . Mike Sussman , co - writer of , noted , " " My idea of the ship morphing into a police call box was immediately nixed by the producers ! " " ( ) Although the information as presented by Daniels ' database was chaotic and visually unorganized , it appeared that the following information could have been associated with the time travel pod : " " RetroFitted Dorsal Carrier , Design XRT - 55D , Commission Date 3125 " " . Additional text that appeared throughout the scene includes : " " 2991 Series 24 Craft Body Style A " " and " " 3391 Series 69 Hull Design C " " , as well as a rogue element : " " Hull Design : C 4 - 00 , Commission Date : 2975 . " " Apocrypha . The time pod appears in the video game " Star Trek Online " , and was revealed to be the property of . The ship was loaned to 27th century scientist Kal Dano ( the dead pilot ) , so he could use his invention the Tox Uthat to reignite the Lukari star in the year 2410 . However , a Tholian attack damages the pod and causes it to travel back to the 22nd century .