[Captain Pike]

They were around the edge of the outskirts of the bridge ring on the NX-O1 in A Mirror Darkly. Where are they located on the 1701 in the film?

[NCC-73515]

We have seen that the Kelvin used shuttles and not escape pods, perhaps the Enterprise relies on Shuttles as well?

[Livingston]

Well, one pod is definitely located on the neck.

[Commodore]

Unlike 24th-Century ships in which you see almost everything on the hull, one old idea is that 23rd-Century ships concealed a lot of stuff on their hulls--either with a layer of insulating thermocoat or behind hatches that are flush with other hull plates and are only visible when opened. Lifeboats probably fit under the latter category and on the nuEnterprise could be pretty much anywhere near key crew sections of the saucer, interhull, and engineering sections, IMO.

[chator]

Originally Posted by Livingston

Well, one pod is definitely located on the neck.

Yes, the one that lauches naughty-boy Kirk onto Delta Vega.

[horatio]

Klingons don't take prisoners, or to be precise they like to make their enemies believe that they don't take prisoners, so the new E doesn't need escape pods.
And as already mentioned, the new captain of the E might have a slight aversion to escape pods.

[kevin]

Originally Posted by Commodore

Unlike 24th-Century ships in which you see almost everything on the hull, one old idea is that 23rd-Century ships concealed a lot of stuff on their hulls--either with a layer of insulating thermocoat or behind hatches that are flush with other hull plates and are only visible when opened. Lifeboats probably fit under the latter category and on the nuEnterprise could be pretty much anywhere near key crew sections of the saucer, interhull, and engineering sections, IMO.

I did not know that.

Although I was watching 'WNMHGB' the other night and they remarked how the USS Valiant had escape pods.

Which made me wonder (for the umpteenth time!) how 23rd Century ships didn't seem to have them when 24th Century ships did, although obviously called lifeboats by then. I remember that the TNG Tech Manual indicated these didn't come in until the early 2300s.

But that seemed a bit iffy.

A starship would need an escape system. Even accounting for shuttles (lots of 'em!) they would need back-up and redundancy.

I guess concealing them could be an option.

[martok2112]

Originally Posted by horatio

And as already mentioned, the new captain of the E might have a slight aversion to escape pods.

Yes....they tend to land on cold, nasty places fraught with monsters.

[NCC_1701A]

The Enterprise from TMP had them. If you look carefully when Kirk first boards the Enterprise, you can see a sign for them.

[NCC_1701A]

Originally Posted by NCC_1701A

The Enterprise from TMP had them. If you look carefully when Kirk first boards the Enterprise, you can see a sign for them.

It says on the door with the red stripe "Life Boats"