The Sulaco and other questions

"Damus" <adam.TakeThisOut@levenson.org> wrote in message
news:c56e4353.0401121327.6be73ada@posting.google.com...
> Everytime I watch Aliens and the other movies, I am left with a couple
> of questions.
>
> First, where the Colonial Marines and the others the only ones aboard
> the Sulaco? It always seemed to me it was a huge ship that would need
> a crew, aside from the infantry.

I would say that the Sulaco is about the same size as a modern mid-range
container ship. Which makes me ask the very same question: Where is the
crew? Automation or no, machines do break down. And when they break down
they need somebody to fix them. While you might be ableto program an android
with the needed information for this, I seriously doubt that you could teach
marines.Nothing against leathernecks, but cross-training people for ground
combat *and* ship maintenance is difficult. It would be like training you to
build a NASA launchpad *and* the shuttle to go on it. And let's not forget
that at least one book has the Sulaco carrying multiple weapons. Big ones.
Pretty hard to teach a guy to do all those things *and* be a ground combat
specialist.

So yes, there would definitely have to be a crew on a ship that large. Of
course, the other answer is that this is just a movie. Enjoy it. Savor it.
Don't overanalyze it.

You wouldn't cut a ribeye steak into hamburger, would you?

Doc



--
"I'm at peace
with my lust.
I can kill because in God I trust.
It's Evolution, baby."


Pearl Jam "Do the Evolution"
 >> Stay informed about: The Sulaco and other questions 

"Damus" <adam.TakeThisOut@levenson.org> wrote in message
news:c56e4353.0401121327.6be73ada@posting.google.com...
> Everytime I watch Aliens and the other movies, I am left with a couple
> of questions.
>
> First, where the Colonial Marines and the others the only ones aboard
> the Sulaco? It always seemed to me it was a huge ship that would need
> a crew, aside from the infantry.

It would *seem* to need more.
It *is* a big ship, and the only pilot appears to be Whatserface... Ferro...


> Second, where would the rescue in 17 days come from? Earth?

We don't know
17 days is only the time after which they would be feared missing if no
contact isn't it?

> Third, at the beginning of Alien3, is the Sulaco destroyed?

We don;t know.
(Apparently it was *meant* to be.. But we don't know.)


> Fourth, if there was a ship so close to Fury, why didn't it come
> rescue Ripley earlier? Surely that ship would have heard of the
> distress the Sulaco encountered.

Maybe it did.
Maybe that's why a ship got there so quickly.


> Oh, also in Aliens, how did Burke accomplish the release of the
> huggers so quickly?

Eeeeevvviiilllll Biiishhoooppp !!!!!


;' )

> How could RIpley know that Burke would stay awake
> to sacrifice the crew to bring home the specimen. Surely the
> cryo-chambers were computer controlled.

Which is the reason she would know he'd have to do that.
IE.. Pre set his chamber to wake him up after everyone else is down..

(Again, could be used to argue for Eeeevvviiillll Biiissshhooooppp!!!
Otherwise, how would he be *able* to do that!?)

;' )

--
Covenant
A Man With Far Too Much Time On His Hands
 >> Stay informed about: The Sulaco and other questions 

Damus wrote:

> Oh, also in Aliens, how did Burke accomplish the release of the
> huggers so quickly?

He tipped over the jars? I guess they had a fairly simple locking
mechanism (on top?).

> How could RIpley know that Burke would stay awake
> to sacrifice the crew to bring home the specimen. Surely the
> cryo-chambers were computer controlled.

No doubt. Which means that he would have had to go to all the trouble
of pressing a button.

--
| You are about to begin reading The Fuzz's .sig.
\ / Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought.
- 0 0 -
/ \
_| |_
 >> Stay informed about: The Sulaco and other questions 

>> First, where the Colonial Marines and the others the only ones aboard
>> the Sulaco?

Yes. Remember they had to prep the second dropship remotely.

>It's a pretty automated ship. We really don't see the scale of it,

We see the size-realtionship between the sulaco and the dropship, and
we see the size-relationship between the dropship and the crew. So
it's not hard to extrapolate from that info how big the Sulaco is
compare to a person.

>>It always seemed to me it was a huge ship that would need
>> a crew, aside from the infantry.

Starting from Alien, it seems to be suggested that large spacecraft
don't need much by the way of piloting, other than when they arrive at
destination (and by inferrence, when they leave, too).

Having said that, it seems absurdly foolhardy to operate in such a way
that there's no-one left on board when going on a ground mission.
Kind of helps the plot of the movie work, though ;-)

>> Second, where would the rescue in 17 days come from? Earth?
>Yeah.

Necessarily Earth? I can't recall if they stated as much.

>> Third, at the beginning of Alien3, is the Sulaco destroyed?
>Yeah.

Is it? Is there any suggestion of this being the case? I can see how
the fire would be a sufficient concern to evacuate the crew, but not
necessarily to *destroy* the ship.

>> Fourth, if there was a ship so close to Fury, why didn't it come
>> rescue Ripley earlier?

It's hard to tell how long it took for the events of Alien3 to take
place.

>> Surely that ship would have heard of the
>> distress the Sulaco encountered.
>
>What ship was close to Fiorina?

I guess the one that showed up only a few hours / days after the
Network got notification of Ripley's condition.

It depends whether it was originally dispatched as a result of
Ripley's condition (via the EEV's scanner), or from a distress signal
from Sulaco.

>> Anyones' input is greatly appreciated.
>Except mine! :-D

Sometimes it is ;-)

Adam
 >> Stay informed about: The Sulaco and other questions 

In article <vb5600tnu2bsf7g5uv49tf4bg1c31c2fbv.RemoveThis@4ax.com>,
Adam Cameron <adam_junk.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote:

> >> Second, where would the rescue in 17 days come from? Earth?
> >Yeah.
>
> Necessarily Earth? I can't recall if they stated as much.

It's just the most logical explanation since we know of no other place.

> >> Third, at the beginning of Alien3, is the Sulaco destroyed?
> >Yeah.
>
> Is it? Is there any suggestion of this being the case? I can see how
> the fire would be a sufficient concern to evacuate the crew, but not
> necessarily to *destroy* the ship.

As in -EXPLODED-? Well, maybe not. As in -UNUSABLE-? Well, yeah - probably.

--
Sandman[.net]
 >> Stay informed about: The Sulaco and other questions 

On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 00:57:34 +0000, Covenant wrote:

> Maybe that's why a ship got there so quickly.

And it just happened to have Bishop on board...

--

..
 >> Stay informed about: The Sulaco and other questions 

"Sandman" <mr DeleteThis @sandman.net> wrote in message
news:mr-F11851.09381713012004@news.fu-berlin.de...
> In article <vb5600tnu2bsf7g5uv49tf4bg1c31c2fbv DeleteThis @4ax.com>,
> Adam Cameron <adam_junk DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > >> Second, where would the rescue in 17 days come from? Earth?
> > >Yeah.
> >
> > Necessarily Earth? I can't recall if they stated as much.
>
> It's just the most logical explanation since we know of no other place.

We know of Arcrturus.
We know of the Solomons.
We know of Thadus (Forget the spelling)

;' )


--
Covenant
A Man With Far Too Much Time On His Hands
 >> Stay informed about: The Sulaco and other questions 

"Vigil" <me.TakeThisOut@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:pan.2004.01.13.13.15.22.100769@privacy.net...
> On Tue, 13 Jan 2004 00:57:34 +0000, Covenant wrote:
>
> > Maybe that's why a ship got there so quickly.
>
> And it just happened to have Bishop on board...


Bishop II !!! (Check the credits!)


--
Covenant
A Man With Far Too Much Time On His Hands
 >> Stay informed about: The Sulaco and other questions 

>> > Necessarily Earth? I can't recall if they stated as much.
>> It's just the most logical explanation since we know of no other place.
>We know of Arcrturus.
>We know of the Solomons.
>We know of Thadus (Forget the spelling)

And how many "surveyed systems" did that person in the Nostromo
inquest claim there were?

I'm talking about the bit as Ripley wondered whether "IQs had dropped
sharply".

Adam
 >> Stay informed about: The Sulaco and other questions 

"Adam Cameron" <adam_junk RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ju4a001cp76iu5moin4rqf8cptj9ms7iqg@4ax.com...
> >> > Necessarily Earth? I can't recall if they stated as much.
> >> It's just the most logical explanation since we know of no other place.
> >We know of Arcrturus.
> >We know of the Solomons.
> >We know of Thadus (Forget the spelling)
>
> And how many "surveyed systems" did that person in the Nostromo
> inquest claim there were?
>
> I'm talking about the bit as Ripley wondered whether "IQs had dropped
> sharply".


Oh yeah..... Forgot about that...

"...over 300..."


--
Covenant
A Man With Far Too Much Time On His Hands
 >> Stay informed about: The Sulaco and other questions 

In article <ju4a001cp76iu5moin4rqf8cptj9ms7iqg.RemoveThis@4ax.com>,
Adam Cameron <adam_junk.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote:

> >> > Necessarily Earth? I can't recall if they stated as much.
> >> It's just the most logical explanation since we know of no other place.
> >We know of Arcrturus.
> >We know of the Solomons.
> >We know of Thadus (Forget the spelling)
>
> And how many "surveyed systems" did that person in the Nostromo
> inquest claim there were?

Surveyed != Popularized with military force

It's possible, we just don't know of any other place than earth.
 >> Stay informed about: The Sulaco and other questions 

"Sandman" <mr.RemoveThis@sandman.net> wrote in message
news:mr-98CC7F.10140215012004@news.fu-berlin.de...
> In article <ju4a001cp76iu5moin4rqf8cptj9ms7iqg.RemoveThis@4ax.com>,
> Adam Cameron <adam_junk.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > >> > Necessarily Earth? I can't recall if they stated as much.
> > >> It's just the most logical explanation since we know of no other
place.
> > >We know of Arcrturus.
> > >We know of the Solomons.
> > >We know of Thadus (Forget the spelling)
> >
> > And how many "surveyed systems" did that person in the Nostromo
> > inquest claim there were?
>
> Surveyed != Popularized with military force

Well...?
If it's popularised(?) by military force, then a military force could have
came in from there, no?
(Do you mean populated? I don't quite get what you meant by popularised)

(Although I don't see why you think that's what *surveyed* means. This was a
WY meeting remember, not a USMC one.)


> It's possible, we just don't know of any other place than earth.

But we *do*

As above.. Arcturus, The Solomons, Thadus!


--
Covenant
A Man With Far Too Much Time On His Hands
 >> Stay informed about: The Sulaco and other questions 

In article <bu6kte$vp4$2@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk>,
"Covenant" <covenant.RemoveThis@joelamb.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:

>>>>>> Necessarily Earth? I can't recall if they stated as much. It's
>>>>>> just the most logical explanation since we know of no other
>>>>>> place. We know of Arcrturus. We know of the Solomons. We know of
>>>>>> Thadus (Forget the spelling)
>>>
>>> And how many "surveyed systems" did that person in the Nostromo
>>> inquest claim there were?
>>
>> Surveyed != Popularized with military force
>
> Well...? If it's popularised(?) by military force, then a military
> force could have came in from there, no? (Do you mean populated? I
> don't quite get what you meant by popularised)

"!=" means "doesn't equal to" as in "3 != 4"

> Although I don't see why you think that's what *surveyed* means. This
> was a WY meeting remember, not a USMC one.

My mistake, it's a typical programmers operand, rather than a mathematic, which
I think would be ‚, so:

Surveyed ‚ Popularized by military force.

--
Sandman[.net]
 >> Stay informed about: The Sulaco and other questions