ALIEN: The Weyland-Yutani Report (S.D. Perry, 160 pages)

[426Buddy]

As I understand it the two dont share much in common, other than a disagreement about the size of lv426

[Local Trouble]

The CMTM also implies the derelict survived Aliens intact.

If that doesn't constitute a major discrepancy between the two, I don't know what would.

[SM]

There are a number of errors in it, but I'm sure LBW made it as accurate as he could at the time.

[HuDaFuK]

The CMTM also implies the derelict survived Aliens intact.

If that doesn't constitute a major discrepancy between the two, I don't know what would.

Resurrection hadn't even been made yet. You can hardly criticise the author for not being able to see into the future.

[Nostromo]

The ECA established the colony there and Weyland-Yutani co-financed it against mineral rights.  Even if the company still had knowledge of the derelict's presence, it wouldn't factor into their official reasons for being there.

Besides, Hadley's Hope had been there for over 20 years.  Do you really think it was part of some sort of long con?

And in case you misunderstood my question:

As an astronomy buff, can you provide an alternate explanation for why we'd go so far away from our own solar system to mine anything?

Our own solar system has such an abundance of minerals that we shouldn't ever have to venture light-years abroad in order to obtain any that we currently know of.

Professor John Lewis has pointed out (in Mining the Sky) that the resources of the solar system (the most accessible of which being those in the NEAs) can permanently support in first-world comfort some quadrillion people.  In other words, the resources of the solar system are essentially infinite...

Ah ok, I see now, was busy with work before, so I missed the mining part.

"As an astronomy buff, can you provide an alternate explanation for why we'd go so far away from our own solar system to mine anything?"

Ok, here's a few reasons off the top of my head..because we are always discovering new minerals & elements from the periodic table, such as when studying certain Asteroids found on Earth. Some might end up having game changing properties. Or like I said earlier, perhaps a huge concentration of rare ones on a planet. For example there are planets made of almost 100% diamond. Already planetary scientists can tell certain exoplanet's mineral and atmospheric composition, I can only imagine how easy this will have become in 10-50 years+. I think that's a good enough reason. Either that or Alien technology or Alien biology useful for biotechnology and maybe nanotechnology

Also, his website lists various descriptions on why they are on certains planets for...

http://www.projectprometheus.com/newworlds/ scroll upwards.

KOI-2770.01: IZVINITE OUTPOST
TERRAFORMED
2063 - 2069
ESTABLISHED
2069
NOTES
Massive quantities of Palladium likely due to collision with a mineral rich asteroid millions of years ago

KOI-1404.01: ARCHIMEDES COLONY
TERRAFORMED
2063 - 2069
ESTABLISHED
2069
NOTES
Vast Lithium deposits

KOI-898.03: FEBRUARY OUTPOST
TERRAFORMED
2063 - 2069
ESTABLISHED
2069
NOTES
In 2062, traces of alien bacteria discovered in the polar region

POL-3191 BB: COREN
TERRAFORMED
N/A
ESTABLISHED
Discovered: 2071
NOTES
Coren appears to possess at least 2 unique micro-organisms - the first time multiple types of alien life have been found

Here's some more answers from your company:

DISCOVERY OF THE OUTER VEIL
Weyland astronomers note an area of space appearing very rich in minerals and other natural resources. Weyland expected to travel there within the century.
DECEMBER 21, 2037

BALLISTIC DEVELOPMENT
Weyland creates new 5.56 millimeter round made of metals mined from the circumstellar habitable zone planets orbiting within Gliese 581 capable of traveling at max velocity in any atmosphere at any range.
JULY 4, 2033

WEYLAND TAKES OVER KEPLER MISSION 
Weyland privatizes NASA's famous Kepler mission, increases its funding 10-fold and within the year discovers 6,546 more bio-compatible planets.
NOVEMBER 18, 2026

https://www.weylandindustries.com/timeline

[Local Trouble]

There are a number of errors in it, but I'm sure LBW made it as accurate as he could at the time.

That's very kind.  Were the errors unavoidable with the source material that was available at the time?

The CMTM also implies the derelict survived Aliens intact.

If that doesn't constitute a major discrepancy between the two, I don't know what would.

Resurrection hadn't even been made yet. You can hardly criticise the author for not being able to see into the future.

Granted and conceded.

[SM]

Were the errors unavoidable with the source material that was available at the time?

Some.  Even having to use paused VHS stills of Aliens for reference, the size of the Sulaco was a long way off. And LV-426 is described as having no discernable tectonic activity despite the geysers seen in Alien and a lava flow damaging the Derelict.

'Thedus' was referenced in shooting scripts (harder to come by back then), but was also referenced in the novelisation (not difficult to come by).

Even with an enormous amount of effort, mistakes still happen.

[Local Trouble]

Ok, here's a few reasons off the top of my head..because we are always discovering new minerals & elements from the periodic table, such as when studying certain Asteroids found on Earth. Some might end up having game changing properties. Or like I said earlier, perhaps a huge concentration of rare ones on a planet. For example there are planets made of almost 100% diamond.

Agreed, but that timeline is riddled with anachronisms that conflict with the films.

[Nostromo]

Ok, here's a few reasons off the top of my head..because we are always discovering new minerals & elements from the periodic table, such as when studying certain Asteroids found on Earth. Some might end up having game changing properties. Or like I said earlier, perhaps a huge concentration of rare ones on a planet. For example there are planets made of almost 100% diamond.

Agreed, but that timeline is riddled with anachronisms that conflict with the films.

Oh, ok. I'll be here if you come up with another question lol.

[Local Trouble]

Ok, here's a few reasons off the top of my head..because we are always discovering new minerals & elements from the periodic table, such as when studying certain Asteroids found on Earth. Some might end up having game changing properties. Or like I said earlier, perhaps a huge concentration of rare ones on a planet. For example there are planets made of almost 100% diamond.

Agreed, but that timeline is riddled with anachronisms that conflict with the films.

Oh, ok. I'll be here if you come up with another question lol.

I think it's funny that the timeline authors specifically mentioned palladium and lithium as minerals that would justify extrasolar mining operations considering how much of both could be found a lot closer to home.  James Cameron himself seems to understand how rich our solar system is as well.

Asteroid Mining Venture Backed by Google Execs, James Cameron Unveiled

And there are a lot of precious metals up there waiting to be mined. A single platinum-rich space rock 1,650 feet (500 meters) wide contains the equivalent of all the platinum-group metals ever mined throughout human history, company officials said.

I do appreciate the effort you put into doing all that research though.  Good show. 

[Nostromo]

Ok, here's a few reasons off the top of my head..because we are always discovering new minerals & elements from the periodic table, such as when studying certain Asteroids found on Earth. Some might end up having game changing properties. Or like I said earlier, perhaps a huge concentration of rare ones on a planet. For example there are planets made of almost 100% diamond.

Agreed, but that timeline is riddled with anachronisms that conflict with the films.

Oh, ok. I'll be here if you come up with another question lol.

I think it's funny that the timeline authors specifically mentioned palladium and lithium as minerals that would justify extrasolar mining operations considering how much of both could be found a lot closer to home.  James Cameron himself seems to understand how rich our solar system is as well.

Asteroid Mining Venture Backed by Google Execs, James Cameron Unveiled

And there are a lot of precious metals up there waiting to be mined. A single platinum-rich space rock 1,650 feet (500 meters) wide contains the equivalent of all the platinum-group metals ever mined throughout human history, company officials said.

I do appreciate the effort you put into doing all that research though.  Good show. 

lol thx. Btw, I thought about that too, when I saw palladium...I was like pah! Bah palladium...but you never know if one day we invent some type of killer app that requires a lot of it...maybe in Android applications...I know a few years ago Titanium & Tungsten had huge demand and the prices skyrocketed on the stock market...it's also Sci Fi..so I keep an open mind...even if it's that puny palladium from D&D lol.

[Local Trouble]

lol thx. Btw, I thought about that too, when I saw palladium...I was like pah! Bah palladium...but you never know if one day we invent some type of killer app that requires a lot of it...maybe in Android applications...

Or a Dyson sphere. 

[Engineer]

Nostromo- no I've never heard of black dwarfs! Thanks for sharing! :-)

I can think of a reason or two to travel so far beyond our solar system to mine. Perhaps they are mining for specific isotopes of specific elements. That would potentially make the material far more difficult to come by. For example, helium-3 is very rare on earth but a lot more abundant on the moon. There's some longer term plans to eventually mine/harvest helium-3 from the moon, because it is a strong candidate for clean nuclear fuel (meaning no left over radiological waste). Could be that they're mining some rare isotope with a high demand, rather than some hypothetical element like "unobtanium." Maybe it's the fuel source for FTL travel, which would explain the high demand, too.

But what if lv-426 isn't actually a mining operation at all!? What if it's meant to be an outpost mid-way between earth and thedus? I know the company co-financed the colony for mining rights, but that could mean the rights they seek relate to transit routs between earth and thedus, or some other mining operation. The benefits of having an outpost mid-way might be to allow crops or livestock to be grown and transported to thedus much more easily (I'm sure lv-426 would have required a greenhouse or something to grow crops; just thinking outside the box a little). But in general, offer a place to refuel or restock while on the way to the final destination.

[SM]

Why would they need to refuel or restock between Sol and Thedus?

[Engineer]

Why would they need to refuel or restock between Sol and Thedus?

If there's a reason to not be in hyper sleep during the trip. Lol

Honestly, I was Primarily thinking that restocking would be better for thedus. It'd be more desirable to travel half way back to earth to get supplies rather than all the way...