I was looking on wikipedia and thought that this looked like the ejection pod from Wing Commander Prophecy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:B-58_Escape_Capsule.jpg
Interesting. I always wondered why they used such a pod in WCP but never bothered to check if there's a real life counterpart.
I've seen a couple like that, who knows, it could be the path finder if they ever do create a starfighter.
If they do make this pod: I sure hope they make more planes with this ejection pod, because it doesn't hurt your spine severely when you eject. Most pilots must retire nowadays after a few ejections because of the damage to their spine.
The F-111 uses a similar system, but luckily the pilot and WSO sit side by side. So if they get stranded for days on end, and they have the foresight, at least they can play cards.
In the F-111, the entire cockpit section is ejected from the aircraft, just like the Shrike was supposed to be able to do.
Also of note is that the capsule was tested using a live bear or two. http://airpigz.com/blog/2010/4/2/b-58-proves-supersonic-ejection-to-be-bear-able-in-1962.html
Also along those lines, the original B-1A was designed to eject the whole cockpit, instead of the more conventional individual ejection seats. One of the changes when Reagan revived the B-1 program was changing back to the individual ejection seats, as the original design's focus on high-altitude penetration of hostile airspace was changed to more of a focus on low-level penetration.
The pod just seems too small. If you were in a high g flat spin. It would be very hard to get all of your limbs inside of that thing. I might be wrong but you'd have to be in the fetal position to get the clam shell/wind shield to fully open. But then again it's designed for a high speed/high altitude ejection. So it served its purpose.
The bear story explains that they used bears to test due to their short legs. The actual system on humans pulled their feet/legs sharply back towards their butt to squeeze the body into that tight space.
