Egg on Sulaco

[Gates]

Almost all of the lifeboats in the Alienverse seem to have been designed by morons (except perhaps for Rez)...we have to come up with fan-theories on why the EEV does what it does for it to make any sorta sense...those mini escape pods in Promethefuk are hilarious (unless you're meant to go into stasis, otherwise, good luck floating around in space for two years awaiting pick-up)...and the pièce de résistance, the Narcissus, the only lifeboat for a crew of seven that, oh-so-so-sorry, only carries two...lulz...

[Local Trouble]

Was the Narcissus ever referred to in Alien as a lifeboat?  I thought it was designed first and foremost as a shuttle that could be used as a lifeboat by its pilot in an emergency.

[Gates]

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure...regardless of it's original purpose, it's the only escape option (in film) in the event of an emergency...should've been more thought out...I'm not certain but I think I remember ADF mentioning that there were two, but one was damaged on the landing and couldn't be used...still that only accounts for four crew members...

[echobbase79]

Almost all of the lifeboats in the Alienverse seem to have been designed by morons (except perhaps for Rez)...we have to come up with fan-theories on why the EEV does what it does for it to make any sorta sense...those mini escape pods in Promethefuk are hilarious (unless you're meant to go into stasis, otherwise, good luck floating around in space for two years awaiting pick-up)...and the pièce de résistance, the Narcissus, the only lifeboat for a crew of seven that, oh-so-so-sorry, only carries two...lulz...

LOL!

[Local Trouble]

To be fair, the emergency WAS self-inflicted.  The Nostromo was fine until Ripley scuttled it.

Whoever regulates commercial starship safety guidelines (ICC?) probably didn't foresee an alien bogeyman causing the entire crew to abandon ship as a scenario that needed to be planned for.

[Gates]

Of course not...but I imagine the hazards of space travel offer a plethora of reasons why there should be...

LOL!

[SM]

Was the Narcissus ever referred to in Alien as a lifeboat?  I thought it was designed first and foremost as a shuttle that could be used as a lifeboat by its pilot in an emergency.

It's not referred to as a lifeboat, just a shuttle (at least in the first film).

The second shuttle (recently christened Salmacis) was the one that was inoperative.

[StrangeShape]

The second shuttle (recently christened Salmacis) was the one that was inoperative.

Where is that from? My memory's kinda rusty

[SM]

Graham Langridge's Nostromo blueprint.  I think he and Martin Bower came up with the name.  Legitimised (kinda) when it shipped with Alien Vault.

[Local Trouble]

I always wondered why they didn't just use the Narcissus to land on LV-426.  It would seem to be an obvious scenario in which to use a shuttle.

[StrangeShape]

I always wondered why they didn't just use the Narcissus to land on LV-426.  It would seem to be an obvious scenario in which to use a shuttle.

I think Cameron mentioned this idea, but it would completely go over the theme of Ripleys psychological journey. She comes back willingly to fight her trauma, and that makes it more engaging and interesting than just making her drift back by default

[Local Trouble]

I meant instead of detaching their payload and landing the whole Nostromo.  Why didn't Dallas, Kane and Lambert just take the shuttle?

[stephen]

I always wondered why they didn't just use the Narcissus to land on LV-426.  It would seem to be an obvious scenario in which to use a shuttle.

I think Cameron mentioned this idea, but it would completely go over the theme of Ripleys psychological journey. She comes back willingly to fight her trauma, and that makes it more engaging and interesting than just making her drift back by default

While that's not what Raisingcane meant - I think this is much more powerful then anything Alien 3 gave us.

[SM]

I meant instead of detaching their payload and landing the whole Nostromo.  Why didn't Dallas, Kane and Lambert just take the shuttle?

They needed the Nostromo to be all kinds of broken for later on.

In-universe - maybe the shuttle isn't built for atmospheric re-entry...?

[StrangeShape]

In-universe - maybe the shuttle isn't built for atmospheric re-entry...?

Thats what I thought too. It seemed like the giant Nostromo was quite bumpy when descending through the atmosphere. If so, a tiny ship like Narcissus wouldnt be able to withstand all that, and also I believe they needed the whole crew there with them. Everyone was necessary, navigator, medic, captain, engineers etc. Thats what the novelization infers too