Mark 4 lifeboat

The Mark 4 lifeboat, commonly referred to as the Bumblebee, was an eleven-person, short range escape pod in service with the United Nations Space Command Navy from 2555 onwards. The Mark 4 was embarked aboard all UNSC Navy space-borne ships and stations, and provided a means of escape in the event of a emergency. The number of lifeboats carried on UNSC ships was determined based on the maximum number of personnel carried aboard, plus a ten percent safety margin. The Bumblebee was most effective when ferrying personnel from ships or stations in orbit to a planetary surface, though the lifeboat had sufficient onboard food, water, fuel and atmosphere-recycling facilities to support its eleven passengers for fifteen days. A significant improvement over the Mark 3 it replaced was the primarily automated nature of the pod. Although it could be operated by a single pilot, its onboard system was designed to be operated by any Navy crewman regardless of piloting experience, and would automatically seek out the nearest UNSC vessel or planetary surface unless overridden by its occupants. This eliminated serious issues during the Human-Covenant War, in which the occupants of a pod would be killed during the difficult re-entry phase due to a lack of pilot onboard.
The Mark 4 was developed directly from its predecessor, the , with improvements in avionics, materials and operating procedure. This increased the survivability of the Mark 4 and its crew during an atmospheric re-entry, but also increased the cost of the lifeboat. As a result, considerations were made over whether the Bumblebee should be reusable or single-use like its predecessor. Despite the additional costs incurred, the decision was made not to reuse the Mark 4 after a single re-entry, due to the extreme airframe stress each pod would undergo during re-entry and landing.
Category:UNSC
Category:UNSC Vehicles