Purpose of a self destruct system on the Nostromo?

[The Runner]

This just dawned on me, but why the heck would a mining ship be equipped with a self destruct device. It's not like the people who built it thought "well what if this infectious creature that can end mankind and all life got onboard". 

[Kimarhi]

Maybe they did.


I always thought it was for investment purposes.  Somebody hijacks your ship, and several billions of dollars worth of ore, you scuttle the ship and leave them empty handed.

[Local Trouble]

Maybe it was to prevent a runaway freighter from crashing into Earth like the Auriga did.

[SiL]

It's not a self-destruct device, she turns the cooling system off and the engines overheat. Which is likely an option for the reasons Kimarhi said.

[Valaquen]

Maybe they did.


I always thought it was for investment purposes.  Somebody hijacks your ship, and several billions of dollars worth of ore, you scuttle the ship and leave them empty handed.

I'm sure this was pretty much confirmed somewhere. Ridley said that the Company are very aware of space-pirating and espionage - one reason they insist on having Company men aboard some ships.

[SM]

What Kimba said.

I really loved how they did the scuttle procedure.  It wasn't just the press of a button.  It was a long drawn out process, that you had to do in the right order and then you had a grace period. Plus is wasn't like the ship was packed with explosives.  Just turn off the coolng system and let nature take it's course.  Seemed like a really sensible approach.

[Snark]

You know I was thinking about this the other day. Piracy is a good reason to have it on-board.

In this future there may be a government mandate that all civilian ships must have a self-destruct system in place for vessels that have the potential to carry hazardous materials. If a freighter looses propulsion and/or navigation control and endangers populated systems, this would allow the destruction before coming into contact with said area.

Another reason would be to safeguard populated areas from nuclear radiation and destruction. According to the Self-Destruct Warning sign (see below) it has "Nuclear Bolts". This means the Nostromo has a nuclear reactor. If there was a reactor leak and threatened civilians, the ship could be moved out of the habitable area and detonated if the situation is unresolved.

Also because it has a potentially dangerous nuclear reactor, the owner/government would want a system in place to prevent theft of this power source going into the wrong hands.

Really it would be good to have this on the ship for all the reasons you can't think of in advance.

[whiterabbit]

A self destruct feature would be a nice way to cover up corporate maleficence too.

[Primordial]

@Snark
Funny that part of the warning sign is written in Italian (?). Why this language 

In terms of cost, did companies like W-Y consider putting plenty of robots like Ash against space pirates would be more costly than detonating a ship ?

[Eva]

Just speculating off my head, but it would be nice to be able to detonate the engines as a last resort, if the FTL drive malfunctioned and the crew weren't able to reduce the speed. If an object the size of The Nostromo collided with Earth at a speed several times the speed of light, it could be Adiós, muchachos to our blue planet.

At least they made it believable by making it a very complicated procedure, as opposed to a big red glowing button next to the captains chair, reading 'SELF DESTRUCT'.

[Kimarhi]

I'd figure that earth would have to have some kind of auto defense to stop FTL things from crashing into it.  It would be a terrorist wet dream if he wasn't based on the pale blue dot.

[whiterabbit]

I'd figure that earth would have to have some kind of auto defense to stop FTL things from crashing into it.  It would be a terrorist wet dream if he wasn't based on the pale blue dot.

But isn't the Earth supposed to be a shit-hole? Who the hell wants to go to the Earth?

Smashing ships into it is a kindness. 

[Primordial]

When setting a destination on a spaceship, they should  select as a first step a location next to it so that if some sort of engine problem happens, they avoid collision.

[Nightmare Asylum]

At least they made it believable by making it a very complicated procedure, as opposed to a big red glowing button next to the captains chair, reading 'SELF DESTRUCT'.

But I like the big red buttons

[LarsVader]

At least they made it believable by making it a very complicated procedure, as opposed to a big red glowing button next to the captains chair, reading 'SELF DESTRUCT'.

But I like the big red buttons

Everybody does, and that's part of the problem.