USCSS NOSTROMO
The USCSS Nostromo, registration number 1809246(09), was a modified Lockmart CM-88B Bison M-Class star freighter owned by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation and commanded by Captain 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.
History
The USCSS Nostromo was constructed in 2101 as an interstellar cruiser, but was refitted in 2116 as a commercial towing vehicle. The Nostromo was subsequently operated as a commercial hauler, transporting automated ore and oil refineries between the 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 engines 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. Seven hypersleep chambers that would accommodate the crew during long-duration flight were also installed at this time. Many of the ship's background systems, including its autopilot feature, were controlled by MU/TH/UR 6000, an artificial intelligence computer mainframe.Final voyage
The Nostromo departed from Earth in 2120 and made a one month trip to Neptune, where it connected with a cargo hauler. From there, Nostromo ultimately departed on its scheduled eight-month interstellar journey to Thedus, where it spent eight weeks while the hauler was loaded before its extended trip back to the Sol System, due to added weight.[6] During its stay on Thedus, one of the ship's two light shuttles, Salmacis, was damaged in a loading accident and was not aboard when the Nostromo departed. The apparent disappearance of the Nostromo was subject to large amounts of news coverage, with speculation as to the cause of its destruction ranging from stray debris to an "uncatalogued asteroid". However, the truth of the incident was briskly covered up by Weyland-Yutani. Company personnel who had given the ship its secret mission to LV-426 destroyed all records of ever having done so, along with any information regarding the warning signal being transmitted from LV-426. The signal itself was later deactivated by the crew of the USCSS Anesidora. Weyland-Yutani lost a substantial amount of money as a result of the loss of the Nostromo, a fact that no doubt helped facilitate the coverup — the incident became a black mark in the company's records, and consequently it was something of a taboo subject amongst employees. Nostromo was relegated to the pages of history, where it went down as being lost without a trace. The ship's fate was finally revealed 57 years later in 2179, when Ripley was rescued.
Class
Manufacturer
Creation Date
2101
Destruction Date
2122
Owning Organization
Related Myths
Width
215 m
Length
334 m
Height
98 m
Weight
63,000 metric tonnes
Complement / Crew
7
Comments