EVA Pod

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The EVA Pod is a fictional spacecraft seen in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Jupiter spacecraft Discovery One carries three of these small, one-man maintenance vehicles.

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EVA Pod specifications

Number Produced

14 for Space Station Five
11 for Space Station Four
7 for Space Station Three
5 Replacement vehicles
4 test vehicles
3 for Discovery One
1 Replica
1 for Discovery Prototype

Mass: 1,387 kg.
Overall Diameter: 1.98 m.
Capacity: One Person Standard; Three Person Emergency
Propulsion systems: Ten Mk 12 thrusters (690 N) Eight Mk 17 thrusters (196 N) Eight Mk 8 micro-thrusters (49 N) Five Mk 14 (390 N) thrusters. One Mk 37 (4.9 kN). The Grumman DC-5 features the most complex maneuvering systems of any one-person spacecraft built to date. Mounted on either side of the main structure is a group of 13 maneuvering thrusters and their associated radiating panels, thrust deflectors, and fuel & oxidizer tanks. These assemblies, affectionately nicknamed "earmuffs", contain five Mk 12s installed in the central "bulge", along with a ring of four Mk 17s and four Mk 8s. The Mk 37 is housed in the Pod's Dorsal section. It can be used for large translations, or for takeoff and landing from asteroids and other small planetary bodies.
Life Support: 12 Hrs. (One Person)
Radar: Grumman EPS-2D; Long Range; Active Pulse
Other Equipment: Explosive Bolt Door Separation; Short-range Object Approach System and Transponder; Complete HAL 9000 Data link System; Automatic Thruster Control; Auto Hover; Eight-Channel communication system; Advanced Manipulator Control System; Two-hour Oxygen Reserve System.
Notes: The Grumman DC-5 carries can carry little in the way of food and water stocks, due to short life support capacity. A single air conditioning vent is provided.

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Technical notes from the British Interplanetary Association

Propulsion: A subliming solid system provides vernier propulsion, wherein the solid propellant sublimes at a constant pressure and is emitted from a nozzle. Such reaction jets will last for long periods of time, have great reliability and use no mechanical valves. The main propulsion system is powered from by storable liquids.
Mechanical Hand Controls: Selection controls are placed on each side so that the appropriate hand must be removed from the manipulator to select a tool or to park. Selection of a tool returns the arm to the 'park' position, where it leaves the 'hand', then the arm goes to the appropriate tool and plugs in. In doing so, it inhibits the 'finger' controls on the manipulator, so that when the operator returns his hand into the glove he can only move a solid object, not individual fingers.
Television: It was found possible to produce all-round TV coverage with eight fixed cameras. This, however, did not give a sufficiently accurate picture for docking or selecting a landing space. For this purpose, the field of view can be narrowed or oriented; controls are included for this purpose. Normally, the TV link is occupied by the internal camera, so that the parent craft can monitor the pod interior. The pilot can switch in any other camera for specific purposes (survey, etc.) reverting to interior camera for normal work.
Proximity Detector: This is the safety system with omnidirectional coverage working from the main communication aerials. It gives audible warning when the pod approaches a solid object. This is necessary as a safety measure as the pilot cannot monitor seven or eight TV displays continuously. The system also detects an approach to an object, the speed of which is too high to be counteracted by the vernier thrust settings on the control system. In this event, full reverse thrust is applied, overriding the manual control setting. The system depends upon a frequency modulated transmission and under safe conditions results in a low, soft audible background signal. This continuous signal is considered necessary in order to provide a continuous check on a vital safety system. If the speed of an approach to an object becomes dangerous compared with the distance from it, the tone becomes louder and higher pitched, and, if unchecked, end in a shrill note accompanied by reverse thrust. The system also works in conjunction with a transponder (to the give the necessary increased range) to measure distance from the Discovery.
Flying Controls: Manual controls are considered necessary both as a standby and for local maneuvers. Two hand control sticks, each with two degrees of freedom and fitted with twist grips, provide the necessary control about six axes. Analog information is presented for attitude, heading rate and distance; these can be referred to local ground (for landing, takeoff, etc.), course (which enables the pilot to face forward, head up, on any preselected course), or parent ship (for docking, local maneuvers, etc.) This data has to be presented, as the pilot has to act immediately on them. This is the most easily assimilated display. A variation in full scale rate, which can be applied by the control sticks, is included; this allows the full stick movements to result in any proportion of vernier motor thrust, thus giving a 'fine' control for local maneuvers.