The USCSS Nostromo, registration number 1809246(09), was a
modified Lockmart CM-88B Bison M-Class starfreighter owned by the
Weyland-Yutani Corporation and captained by Arthur Dallas, registered out of
Panama.The Nostromo operated as a tug, connecting to and pulling loads like a
tractor truck rather than carrying those loads on board like a traditional
freighter.
The ship was destroyed in 2122 when its reactor was set to
self destruct by Ellen Ripley in an attempt to kill the lone Xenomorph that was
loose aboard the vessel. The ship and its refinery cargo were completely
destroyed in the resulting explosion.
Technical specifications
Length
334 m (1,095 ft.)
Width
215 m (705 ft.)
Height
98 m (320 ft.)
Mass
63,000 metric tons
Cost
$42,000,000
The Nostromo was constructed in 2101 as an interstellar
cruiser, but was refitted in 2116 as a commercial towing vehicle. The ship was
subsequently operated as a commercial hauler, transporting automated ore and
oil refineries between outer colonies and Earth. As part of this retrofit, the
ship's original Saturn J-3000 engines were removed and replaced with the two
immensely powerful Rolls-Royce N66 Cyclone thrust engines, with bipolar
vectoring for midline lift function. Each of these N66 cyclone powerplants
developed 65,830 metric tons of thrust, using water for reaction mass. When
running at full power, the engines produced a high impulse thrust total of
131,660 kN. The seven hypersleep chambers that would accommodate the crew
during long-duration flight were also installed at this time. Many of the ships
background systems, including it's auto-pilot feature, were controlled by
MU/TH/UR 6000, the ship's artificial intelligence computer mainframe.
Final voyage
When Weyland-Yutani detected and partially decoded an
unidentified warning signal emanating from LV-426, the Nostromo was selected
(unbeknownst to its crew) to investigate and hopefully recover a potential
Xenomorph specimen from the moon. To help ensure the recovery of the creature,
the Nostromo's science officer was replaced two days before the ship left
Thedus with Ash, a Synthetic sleeper agent who, under Special Order 937, was to
assist in the recovery of a Xenomorph through any means necessary, even at the
expense of the rest of the crew. Upon leaving Thedus, Captain Dallas
transmitted the ship's report packet back to Sol, relaying it through
Sevastopol Station.[7]
The Nostromo above LV-426.
The Nostromo set down on LV-426 on June 3, 2122.[2] The ship
was damaged during landing when dust entered one of the engine intakes, causing
it to overheat and eventually triggering an electrical fire in the engineering
section.[8] When Executive Officer Kane was later brought back aboard the ship
with a Facehugger attached to him, Dallas elected to take off, despite the fact
several non-critical systems had yet to be repaired.
The Nostromo exploding.
Once underway, the Alien that birthed from Kane began
stalking and slaughtering the crew, whose efforts at fighting the creature were
hampered both by Ash and, more generally, by the fact it remained on the lower
engineering decks, where the security camera systems were still inoperable
following the electrical damage caused on LV-426.[4] Eventually, the few
survivors decided to set the ship to self-destruct in an attempt to kill the
Alien while they themselves escaped in the ship's light shuttle, Narcissus.
Only Ellen Ripley survived to make the escape, along with the ship's cat Jones,
while the ship and cargo were completely destroyed by the detonation of the
Nostromo's reactor.
Legacy
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