the detachable front section being described as an escape craft.
So I guess the escape pod the Death Star crew assumed they’d escaped in has been gone much longer than they thought…
Heh, yeah I thought that too. Although it does seem a bit big, and that guy on the Death Star said that several had been jettisoned.
(TLJ spoiler below)
I had thought the capsule Rey was in when shot out of the Falcon was a proper escape pod. Maybe freighters have both individual and group pods.