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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.

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