Airlock

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Airlocks serve as the entrance and exits to spaceships, whether it is docking with another ship or for extravehicular activity (EVA), without compromising the atmosphere of a spaceship. They consist of a hyperbaric chamber with a pair of airtight doors, one allowing access to the ship's interior and the other to the vacuum of space. The chamber can be pressurized and depressurized in a controlled fashion. A Viper launch tube constitutes a form of airlock with additional features for the rapid deployment of Vipers.

Ejecting a person from an airlock or launch tube is a common and easy execution method ("Flesh and Bone", "Collaborators") and the phrase "throwing someone out of an airlock" has gained some notoriety due to Laura Roslin's preference for spacing Cylon agents in this manner ("Flesh and Bone", "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II"). Much to Gaius Baltar's dismay, Roslin suggested throwing Hera out an airlock, in order to prevent the Cylons from obtaining the hybrid (Downloaded).

Airlocks on Galactica have an observation booth from where a depressurized airlock can be safely monitored by personnel. It has the same layout as the launch tube control room.

Cally and Galen Tyrol are trapped in airlock 12 on deck 14, after the computer automatically shuts the blast doors due to pressure loss in the airlock (A Day in the Life).

Airlocks are also used by the Cylons to board vessels, as was the case with Pegasus during the Battle of the Communications Relay ("Pegasus", "Razor")

Cally uses the airlock to commit suicide (The Ties That Bind).

Notes