Nostromo (spaceship)

The USCSS Nostromo is a fictional spaceship, featuring in the movie Alien. The name is from the eponymous hero of the novel by Joseph Conrad.

The Nostromo is a tug, a towing vessel, hauling an enormous ore refinery and 20 million tons of raw ore, massing many times the weight of the Nostromo. The ship itself is still substantial, over 60,000 metric tons and almost 245 m long, including three decks, four holds, stores, engines, and lots of pipes and ducts. A shuttle/escape craft is called Narcissus.

The crew is just seven - Captain, First Officer, XO, Navigation Officer, Science Officer, Engineer and Engineering Technician. They are, respectively, Dallas (Tom Skerritt), Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Kane (John Hurt), Lambert (Veronica Cartwright), Ash (Ian Holm), Parker (Yaphet Kotto) and Brett (Harry Dean Stanton). There is also a cat, Jonesy, and a main computer, Mother.

In 2122 the ship is travelling to Earth from Thedus/Thetis, using a form of FTL drive that requires the crew to spend most of the journey in hypersleep, suspended animation.