Flight pod
From Battlestar Wiki, the free, open content Battlestar Galactica encyclopedia and episode guide
The Galactica has two flight pods. One port and one starboard flight pod. The flight pods contain the landing bays within the top and the Hangar Deck along with the launch tubes within the bottom half. Normally these two pods are extended so that the landing bays are open to space, but in order to perform a FTL jump, the pods need to be retracted.
The port flight pod is the only flight pod on the Galactica currently being used as the starboard flight pod has a is basically a museum with a gift shop on the landing bay. It is closed off from space.
It is also shown in the mini-series that compartments of the flight pod can be sealed off and vented to kill fires and prevent possible complte decompression and structural buckling.