Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. A vehicle (or a compartment of a vehicle) designed to transport, and provide life support for people in space, and during reentry through the Earth's atmosphere
WordNet
n. a spacecraft designed to transport people and support human life in outer space [syn: capsule]
Wikipedia
A space capsule is an often manned spacecraft which has a simple shape for the main section, without any wings or other features to create lift during atmospheric reentry. Capsules have been used in most of the manned space programs to date, including the world's first manned spacecraft Vostok and Mercury, as well as in later Soviet Voskhod, Soyuz, Zond/L1, L3, TKS, US Gemini, Apollo Command Module, Chinese Shenzhou and US, Russian and Indian manned spacecraft currently being developed. A capsule is the specified form for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle.
A manned space capsule must have everything necessary for everyday life, including air, water and food. The space capsule must also protect astronauts from the cold and radiation of space. A capsule must be well insulated and have a system that controls the inside temperature and environment. It also must have a way that the astronauts would not be knocked around during launch or reentry. Additionally, since the inside will be weightless, there must be a way for the astronauts to stay in their seats during the flight. For this each seat has a system of straps and buckles. One of the most important things that a space capsule must have is a way to communicate with people back on Earth, or mission control.
Usage examples of "space capsule".
First she had to go over the nether restaurant of the dining car, borrowing the train's supply of emergency sealant to shore up the car's interior doors, rendering it into a kind of space capsule.
But every one] had descended to Earth again, bringing his space capsule with him.
From that circle slowly emerged the glittering, ungainly shape of a space capsule.
No man can live long in an insulated environment, whether a pressure suit or a space capsule.
Human beings generate even more heat No man can live long in an insulated environment, whether a pressure suit or a space capsule.
She did so, feeling still more nervous than the day she had been called to enter the first space capsule.
But the car was nicely air conditioned, a space capsule whose interior guarded its own sounds and atmosphere, keeping noise and dust and rain and heat all nicely sealed outside.