Design Thread: Nostromo interiors and deck configurations

[Vader]

Here is my latest edition. Little tweaks here and there still to do; then I'll be about done, I think.

After that, one can start going crazy with the detailing ... but that might be a task for someone with a bit more time to spare, not to mention the proper software (I've done all of these in PowerPoint)...

Enjoy!






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[jkruse05]

These look excellent. Personally, I still imagine the observation deck to be present just above the bridge, but that's more personal preference than anything. I think the next step is probably figuring out which rooms have ventilation access and where those vents travel.

[joberg]

That's looking very good Vader

[SKIN JOB 66]

Impressive effort to determine the Nostromo inner spaces !
Some very cool ideas here !!!
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THE FUTURE IS A THING OF THE PAST

[Vader]

[FenGiddel]

I've been searching for any kind of information about the "vents" Dallas crawled through. Apparently a sparsely documented piece of the film... ;(

Oh! And I am enjoying seeing your ideas for the outboard engine nacelles.

[FenGiddel]

Doing some thinking about the nacelle internals and sketched this to get me started. I based the thrust angles on the angles of the lifter nozzles, albeit roughly.




Vader: your nacelle interiors have taken into account spaces for the internal machinery, which is what got me thinking about this in new ways.

Graham: I am not sure what you are doing with (or can say about) your blueprints book drawings, but it would be cool to see a bit of the nacelles.

Starrigger: when you designed your "landing gear deploying" video, did you have any thoughts about the spatial relationship of the gear/bays to the nacelle's internal ducting?

Due to the size of the nacelles, it would seem they might be self-contained and somewhat independent of the main power unit that energizes the ship and the hyperdrive generating equipment.

If so, perhaps the tankage to provide fuel for the lifters' operation provide limited use, determined by the ship's flight profile for the voyage.

This provides an interesting plot 'engine' for stories involving CTVs going off-mission to investigate unexplained signals from uncharted planetoids: maybe life support is not the only thing that is counted in units of "time spent out of hypersleep"?

Just a few thoughts...

[FenGiddel]

Starrigger & Vader:

Take a look at what Danny Attree has done, relative to the giant navigation lights, with his Halcyon Nostromo kit:

https://thenostromofiles.com/2018/04/21/danny-attrees-halcyon-nostromo-model-with-navigation-lights/

Very near, indeed, to what you guys have drawn.

[joberg]

Very nice effect/work! He's really capturing the look

[mrseudo]

Hi guys! I've been checking out this topic for a few years and I wanted to ask about your thoughts on how the fictional engineers would have maintained pressure between the companionways. In ship design (submarine/spacecraft), the bulkheads partition pressurized areas of the ship. It would seem always-open companionways would be a vulnerability in the event of a hull breach or other decompression.

[mrseudo]

I also wanted to follow up to a post submitted by Space Jockey some time ago... a LONG time ago regarding freight lifts to A-Deck. Based on the sound stage layout, there could be some options stemming from the center companionway junction. In the first scenes of the ship, you can view the back wall of the companionway across through the galley—it does not continue straight. (See the green line-of-sight in the diagram below.)

You can also see the ladder in the same companionway after Ripley fights with Lambert in front of the infirmary. This junction could allow two corridors to branch off at 45°, I assume, without conflict from the film. To me, it would be reasonable to have other useful areas of A-Deck other than the sound stage portion.

Another idea from Space Jockey which I LOVE is the locker room area branching at 45° from the freezers corridor. It totally makes sense there, unlike where it's located on the Torrens (Alien Isolation).


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[mrseudo]

On closer inspection, I noticed my first layout wouldn't work with the sound stage layout. Again, the scene where Ripley joins the crew in front of the infirmary, you can see the diagonal wall in the companionway. This would prevent a starboard-side corridor in that companionway. The only option would be a port-diagonal leading to a lift or something else. It makes sense in a way, since very little on this ship is symmetrical, other than the general fuselage.

[FenGiddel]

Nice work, mrseudo! Your graphics are clean, crisp, and illustrate your point very well. Good catch, regarding that portion of wall we see in the scene.

Have you any thoughts about how large the elevator/lift might be to serve the needs of a space-truckin' crew?

[mrseudo]

I'm glad this thread isn't dead yet!

Every large seafaring vessel on which I have either sailed or toured, has had some sort of lift. Since there isn't any real consensus about a gangway for the Nostromo, it would be sensible for there to be a way to move injured persons down to the airlock or possibly to the shuttle.

On that note, what logical challenge would there be for the umbilicus to also serve as a gangway?

[FenGiddel]

I agree that there are lots of cool details that a ship like Nostromo would possess but were not depicted on-screen. Imagining those very details is the source of my enjoyment of the ship.

That being said, your "umbilicus-gangway" idea is interesting. How do you imagine it?

[mrseudo]

[FenGiddel]

Interesting. So once the ship reaches home base and detaches the refinery, she'd next connect with a docking clamp that contains access for the exchange of personnel and/or equipment?

[joberg]

Interesting idea for sure. It could make sense

[mrseudo]

As we've seen with just about every attempt to land on bodies in space, there is considerable risk involved. A ship the size of Nostromo would be a colossal disaster if it broke up in the Earth's atmosphere (not to mention a reactor supernova). The landing in the film is certainly less than perfect.

I imagine the Nostromo engaging with an orbiting "garage" platform and having a personnel exchange there. The crew could then return to Earth on a shuttle or transfer to another orbiting vessel via Narcissus.

The umbilical crown would need to be a standard attachment point for all fleet vehicles. Towable units, like the refinery, would need a standard umbilicus to match it.

[FenGiddel]

Yes, over the years I've come to think that landings were rare for the ol' Nostromo and her type, for some of the reasons you've put forward. The single shuttle then becomes less an escape pod and more a transport for crew transfers. Tugs maybe then just got shifted around between refinery platforms in some gigantic yard space in orbit. Or maybe even stayed engaged to the same platform, making multiples runs as Dallas mentioned in on-screen dialogue. Makes the contract stipulated investigations all the more interesting given the potential cost in old ships making landfalls they're too old for.