Sulaco (spaceship)
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| Sulaco | |
|---|---|
 The Sulaco headed for LV-426. |
|
| First appearance | Aliens |
| Fate | Unknown (recovered in upcoming Aliens: Colonial Marines video game)[1] |
| References | "Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual"[2] |
| General Characteristics | |
| Class | Conestoga Class Light Assault Carrier |
| Maximum speed | 0.74 LYSD |
| Fighters | Four (4) Assault/Cargo Shuttles |
| Auxiliary craft | Eight (8) UD-4L "Cheyenne" Utility Dropships |
| Armaments | see below |
| Propulsion | 0.5g (5 m/s²) |
| Power | One (1) Westingland A-59 Lithium-Hydride Fusion Reactor |
| Mass | 78,000 metric tons |
| Length | 385 m (1,260 ft) |
| Width | 50 m (164 ft) |
| Height | 85 m (280 ft) |
The U.S.S. Sulaco is a fictional spaceship forming an important setting in the film Aliens and being briefly seen in the opening of Alien 3.
In Aliens, the Sulaco is used by the United States Colonial Marines, a fictional military force, as a transport to investigate the loss of communication on LV-426. A large part of the movies features an attempt by the remains of the force landed on the moon to return to the ship in orbit. Eventually, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) manages to return to the vessel on board of one of the dropships, but accidentially carries aboard the Alien Queen and has to fight it in the dropship bay of the vessel before casting it out into space.
After the Sulaco launched the cryotubes with Ripley, Hicks, Newt and Bishop at the start of Alien 3, the fate of the ship in the franchise was unknown - though it will feature as a setting in an upcoming authorised videogame taking place shortly after the events of Alien 3.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Naming
The Sulaco is named after a fictional town in Joseph Conrad's novel Nostromo,[3] and a number of other names in the franchise are based on Conrad's work as well.
Some social sciences research into the Alien franchise's symbology has considered it significant that Sulaco in Conrad's Nostromo is the home of the white owners of the silver mine figuring in the book, while the Sulaco in Aliens transports soldiers to investigate unknown troubles at a corporate outpost of Weyland Yutani and to protect the investment - drawing parallels between the 'corporate' owners in Conrad and the shadowy business entity forming a central part of the Aliens franchise.[3][4]
[edit] Description
The Sulaco is a Conestoga class starship, thirteenth of its class, originally designed as a troop and logistics transport. By 2179 in the Alien-universe, these ships had been converted into a rapid-response military transport, with orbital bombardment and fleet support capabilities,[2] though in Aliens' it carries only a small part of the possible complement of troops.
[edit] Function
The Sulaco masses 78,000 metric tons and can carry an additional 20,000 tons of cargo. It measures 385 meters (1,260 ft) in length. As a troop carrier, the Sulaco carries two UD4L Cheyenne dropships in the film (though it is capable of holding eight) and has sufficient life support capabilities for 90 crew and passengers to be supported indefinitely. In an emergency, as many as 2,000 troops can be placed in hibernation in the main cargo hangars for a maximum four days. Colonial Marines stationed on the ship each receive a small locker for uniforms and personal paraphenilia, while Officers are granted larger lockers for their personal items. No actual crew is needed for a Conestoga class ship — being fully automated it can sustain and defend itself with the use of an advanced artificial intelligence computer. An android (Bishop in the case of the Sulaco) accompanies most missions to monitor the computer and life support systems.[2]
[edit] Capabilities
It is powered by a Westingland A-59 3.6 terawatt fusion reactor using high density lithium hydride for fuel. The high density of the lithium hydride provides the ship with one whole year of power with only 900 cubic meters of fuel. The reactor itself is protected by armor and in an emergency, the reactor can vent pressure and eject dangerous liquids safely into space, preventing damage of the ship itself. It has a regular acceleration of 0.5g (5 m/s²) and can go a maximum acceleration of one g, but will burn 16 times as much fuel if it operates at this speed. Sublight propulsion is provided by four GF-2400 rocket motors using industrial carbon-diamond as reaction mass. Faster-than-light propulsion is provided by a hyperdrive tachyon shunt, with a maximum speed of 0.74 light year per sidereal day.[2]
[edit] Warfare
The ship carries a number of weapons and warfare systems:[2]
- Eight long-range ASAT missiles fired from the dorsal launch bay
- Two forward-firing 800 MeV Neutral Particle Beam weapons, which can disable the electronics systems of enemy spacecraft out to a range of 100,000 km
- Four (two twin turrets, one dorsal, one ventral) Kinetic Energy Railguns
- Two 80 MW point-defense lasers for vaporizing incoming missiles and kinetic energy rounds
- Ventral mine dispenser — magazine can hold up to 60 orbital fragmentation mines
- Up to 80 guided re-entry vehicles including bunker buster, high-explosive, and nuclear weapon warheads
The ship also carries 20 decoy ballutes and two maneuverable decoy drones in aft ventral bay for defense purposes, while a jamming system allows the scrambling of electronic signals up to 6,000 miles away in space and up to 60 miles through an atmosphere. The Sulaco's hull panels meanwhile are constructed from radar absorbing material, which reduces the ship's radar cross section to low levels. It is painted dark grey to keep the ship from being seen by the naked eye.[2]
[edit] As film setting
[edit] Set design
Syd Mead, a principal conceptual designer on Aliens, first designed the Sulaco as a massive sphere, a "heavily armed cargo ship, outfitted to transport material". James Cameron was not satisfied, as having a spherical model move past the lens would have required variable focus; he produced a quick sketch of the style of ship he imagined and noted that he was imagining something like a "a forest of antennae enter[ing] the frame, followed by the enormous bulk of the SULACO".[5]
While some claim that the basic shape was based on a submarine,[6] the design has most often been described as a 'gun in space' due to the elongated form resembling the pulse rifles used in the movie - with Syd Mead agreeing that (in addition to Cameron's preferences) this was one of the reasons for the switch from the spherical form.[7] Other film analysts have remarked on how the opening shot of the ship as something sinister and weaponlike presages Ripley's transformation during the movie into a warrior figure, akin to the hardened Marines the Sulaco already carries.[8] The opening shot of the ship travelling through space has also been called 'fetishistic' and 'shark-like', "an image of brutal strength and ingenious efficiency" - while the rigid, mechanic, militarized interior of the Sulaco (designed by Ron Cobb) is contrasted to the somewhat more organic and friendly interior of the Nostromo in the first movie (also designed by Ron Cobb).[9] Other sources have also noted the homage the scene pays to the opening tour through the Nostromo in Alien.[10]
Mead has denied rumors in the fan community that actual scientific research had been done into how a futuristic spaceship might work. As an example, he noted that the idea for the early spherical design had nothing to do with creating centrifugal gravity, as such problems (how to create artificial gravity aboard a spaceship) were for storyline purposes assumed to have already been solved by science.[5]
[edit] Symbolism of color and lighting
Several movie academics have remarked on the color and lighting symbology in the Alien franchise, which often offsets white, strongly lighted environments (spaceships, corporate offices) against darker, dirtier, 'corrupted' settings (derelict alien ships, abandoned industrial facilities). These black touches contrast, or even attempt to take over, the purity of the white elements.[11] Others have agreed with this interpretation, and pointed to the Sulaco with its "sterilized, white interior" as representing this element in the second film of the franchise.[12]
[edit] Symbolism as a "holy place"
Academics analyzing the role of the Ripley character in the Aliens franchise have also remarked on the symbolism of the opening scene of Alien 3, set in the Sulaco's cryo chamber. Ripley is compared with an incorrupt Catholic saint preserved in a glass coffin (akin to Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, both in her lying in state in the cryotube as well as for her her 'incorrupt body' which has twice survived being almost infested with the Alien). Accompanied by the Agnus Dei of the Ordinary Mass playing in the background of the opening, it is argued that the Sulaco has been transformed "into a holy site where the iconic bodies of a fetishistic religion lie in state" - setting the scene for a lone facehugger attacking its victim (corrupting it) and also causing the emergency system to evacuate the cryotubes into space, to plunge down to Fiorina "Fury" 161 (representing the Fall from Grace).[13]
[edit] In popular culture
[edit] In video games
The upcoming videogame Aliens: Colonial Marines will begin by featuring the now abandoned Sulaco being investigated by a Colonial Marine search-and-rescue team set shortly after the events of Aliens / Alien 3.[1] According to information given to game magazines and websites, the investigating marines find that the ship has been boarded by scavengers[14] as well as apparently having become infested by aliens.[15] Gearbox Software is noted as having meticulously created the entire spaceship room-by-room.[16]
[edit] In scale modelling
The ship has also been built as a scale model by various enthusiasts as well as Japanese toy company Aoshima Bunka Kyozai and model maker Halcyon,[17][18][19] with some more detailed versions also produced by small-series / individual commission modelling companies.[20]
[edit] See also
- The Nostromo
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Interview: A xenomorph may be involved (interview on 'computerandvideogames.com' with Mike Gallo, producer on Aliens: Colonial Marines. 30 April 2008.)
- ^ a b c d e f Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual - Brimmicombe-Wood, Lee; HarperPrism, 1996, ISBN 0-06-105343-0
- ^ a b "Is this Going to be Another Bug-Hunt?": S–F Tradition Versus Biology-as-destiny in James Cameron's Aliens - Blackmore, Tim; The Journal of Popular Culture, Volume 29 Issue 4 Page 211-226, Spring 1996
- ^ Gospel Images in Fiction and Film: On Reversing the Hermeneutical (excerpt via Google Books) - Kreitzer, Larry J.; Continuum International Publishing Group, 2002, Page 76
- ^ a b Interview with Syd Mead, Conceptual Designer, Aliens (Hicks Sunday for 'alienexperience.com', 31 December 2006)
- ^ Alien[s] (from the 'starshipmodeler.com' website. Accessed 2008-05-20.)
- ^ Syd Mead's "Sulaco" ship from Aliens just a big gun (from Boing Boing website. Accessed 2008-05-18.)
- ^ Alien Woman: The Making of Lt. Ellen Ripley (excerpt via Google Books) - Ximena Gallardo C. & Smith, C. Jason; Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004, Page 84-85
- ^ Alien to The Matrix: Reading Science Fiction Film (excerpt via Google Books) - Kaveney, Roz; I.B. Tauris, 2005, Page 159
- ^ Beautiful Monsters: The Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to the Alien and Predator Movies - McIntree, David; Telos Publishing, 2005
- ^ Alien and the Monstrous-Feminine - Creed, Barbara; from Alien Zone: Cultural Theory and Contemporary Science Fiction Cinema, Editor Kuhn, Annette; Verso, 1990, Page 129
- ^ Ripley and Alien - Ortigo, Kile M. in "I’m a Stranger Here Myself": Forced Individuation in Alien Resurrection, Department of Psychology, Emory University, Georgia, United States. Accessed 2008-05-20.)
- ^ Alien Woman: The Making of Lt. Ellen Ripley (excerpt via Google Books) - Ximena Gallardo C. & Smith, C. Jason; Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004, Page 122-123
- ^ Aliens: Colonial Marines (PS2) (Preview) (from the GameSpy website. Accessed 2008-05-20.)
- ^ Article in Game Informer, March 2008, Issue 79, Page 3
- ^ Article in Game Informer, March 2008, Issue 79, Page 47
- ^ Sulaco from "Aliens" (1986) (from 'fantastic-plastic.com' website. Accessed 2008-15-18.)
- ^ Aliens USS Sulaco 1/2400 Scale Model Kit (from 'starstore.com' website. Accessed 2008-05-18.)
- ^ 1/2400 Aliens USS Sulaco Model Kit (from 'bigbadtoystore.com' website. Accessed 2008-05-18.)
- ^ "Aliens" Sulaco (from 'smallartworks.ca' website. Accessed 2008-05-18.)
