lunar lifeboat

plural lunar lifeboats

1. US space program; space flight; US space program; space flightIn the US Apollo moon program, a lunar module repurposed as a makeshift shelter for an astronaut crew returning to earth after a mishap necessitating cancellation of a moon landing; the emergency procedure of using the lunar module in this manner.

   As the "lunar lifeboat" neared the Earth, the hard problem loomed of how to separate the vehicles before they entered the atmosphere.

   1970 Sept., Steven Morris, "How Blacks View Mankind's “GIANT STEP”," Ebony, p. 35 (Google preview) (retrieved 30 July 2015)

   2 more examples

   At 141 hours and 30 minutes, the Lunar Module, Aquarius, after successfully fulfilling its contingency role as a Lunar Lifeboat, was jettisoned in preparation for the final plunge into the Earth's atmosphere.

   1970, Jim Lovell, "The Flight of Apollo 13—A Successful Failure," Society of Experimental Test Pilots Technical Review, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 130 (Google search result) (retrieved 30 July 2015)

   [T]he world held its collective breath as the astronauts of Apollo 13 climbed into their lunar lifeboat Aquarius and safely returned to earth.

   2012 September 13, Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, “Sermon”, in Washington National Cathedral, retrieved 30 Jul 2015

   Synonyms: LEM lifeboat, LM lifeboat