Announcing Alien: The Blueprints from Titan Books!

[Local Trouble]

I always thought the crew just pooped into the food processors and that's what they were eating after they all woke up.

[SM]

Waste not; want not.

[Local Trouble]

Coffee is a natural laxative.  That's probably why the company makes it the only good thing on the ship.

[Xenomrph]

If there's three cryotubes - why is there 'chance' involved?  It's just 'Righto, let's go.'  One tube supported Ripley for 57 years; at that rate the ship could support three for 19 years each minimum (and Parker and Ripley would have some idea on the specs), and they were only six weeks from the frontier.

"The chance" is whether they'd get picked up at all - Ripley demonstrated this when she thought she'd get picked up within weeks, but instead drifted for 6 decades. That "chance" is present no matter how many cryotubes the shuttle has.

[SiL]

If there's three cryotubes then there's no reason for the coolant, which is for the air, which they wouldn't need if they were in cryo.

Going strictly by the film, it doesn't make any sense for the characters to do what they do if there's a third bed.

[USG Ishimura]

If there's three cryotubes - why is there 'chance' involved?  It's just 'Righto, let's go.'  One tube supported Ripley for 57 years; at that rate the ship could support three for 19 years each minimum (and Parker and Ripley would have some idea on the specs), and they were only six weeks from the frontier.

"The chance" is whether they'd get picked up at all - Ripley demonstrated this when she thought she'd get picked up within weeks, but instead drifted for 6 decades. That "chance" is present no matter how many cryotubes the shuttle has.

This.
The one cryotube supported Ripley for 57 years so all is well and good point is really an 'in hindsight' statement. Would they have had someone actually test a cryotube for that length of time before the events of Alien? Again not knowing for sure what would happen, would make sense they would go for coolant to take with them as a 'just in case' I wrote about above. I think some are missing the whole point of what I wrote.

[Xenomrph]

If there's three cryotubes then there's no reason for the coolant, which is for the air, which they wouldn't need if they were in cryo.

Going strictly by the film, it doesn't make any sense for the characters to do what they do if there's a third bed.

They'd potentially need the air if they woke up from cryo, though. There were a whole lot of "what ifs" in their escape plan so they were hedging their bets, and then two people got murdered and the third person decided it wasn't worth the risk and decided to take their chances in the shuttle. Ripley doesn't make it clear if taking the coolant for the shuttle is an absolute necessity, or merely a way of increasing their chances.

[SM]

If there's three cryotubes - why is there 'chance' involved?  It's just 'Righto, let's go.'  One tube supported Ripley for 57 years; at that rate the ship could support three for 19 years each minimum (and Parker and Ripley would have some idea on the specs), and they were only six weeks from the frontier.

"The chance" is whether they'd get picked up at all - Ripley demonstrated this when she thought she'd get picked up within weeks, but instead drifted for 6 decades. That "chance" is present no matter how many cryotubes the shuttle has.

This.
The one cryotube supported Ripley for 57 years so all is well and good point is really an 'in hindsight' statement. Would they have had someone actually test a cryotube for that length of time before the events of Alien? Again not knowing for sure what would happen, would make sense they would go for coolant to take with them as a 'just in case' I wrote about above. I think some are missing the whole point of what I wrote.

I don't think we are.  Just trying to understand the reasoning behind, as SiL said, 'fixing a problem that didn't exist'.

That's quite okay, guys; I guarantee you there is at least one person on Facebook that has unfriended me because I put toilets on A-Deck.

I ain't going down to B-Deck every time I want a slash.  Plus it makes sense.  I think the second shuttle makes sense too.

In the context of the film though, I don't see how a third cryotube fits.

[SiL]

I find the "maybe they didn't know" angle is fairly disingenuous, and assumes a space-faring crew wouldn't have had to go through some kind of safety training to learn about emergency procedures. Every time I go on a cruise ship I learn about the emergency tenders, how they operate, what supplies they have and features they have for being found. The idea the crew of the Nostromo wouldn't know the shuttle's capabilities feels a bit of a stretch.

If it was built for three people, there'd need to be a reason they distrusted its ability to do its job. The one the film gives is that it's not built for three -- it's built for two.

It's 100% not going to affect my enjoyment of the book or the work done on it, mind, just a fun conversation about

'fixing a problem that didn't exist'.

[SM]

Indeed.

[Local Trouble]

Ripley doesn't make it clear if taking the coolant for the shuttle is an absolute necessity, or merely a way of increasing their chances.

Ripley said: "We're gonna need coolant for the air support system."  Did that not make it clear it was a necessity?

If the line had been "We should bring extra coolant," and didn't specify what it was for, I think you and Graham would have a point.

[SM]

"Air support system" is fairly specific and pointing to, 'some bugger's going to be awake for a while'.

[Local Trouble]

"I'm talkin' about breathing, not this frozen shit."

[Corporal Hicks]

Amazon finally got their act together and have shipped my copy! Really looking forward to checking this out.

[SiL]

Wew! Payday this week will let me grab it off Book Depository.