"What happened to the rest of the crew?"

[maledoro]

I really like this theory, especially when you consider that the beacon was transmitting a warning to stay away.  If the Jockeys were such a ruthless, warmongering species, as some theories suggest, why would the Pilot bother to turn on the beacon at all?  If that were the case, I would wager that the Pilot would most certainly have left it unactivated, figuring anything that comes along and discovers the ship deserves the fate that awaits in the cargo hold/chamber.

Keep in mind, too, that the production team had felt that the Jockey seemed benign. That, and according to the novelization of Alien, Ash described the Jockeys as "a noble people"; which might have come from an early draft of the script.

No disrespect to the late O'Bannon, but his idea about the alien/space jockey relationship is deeply flawed. For starters, all this is happening on a planetoid that is 1200 Km in diameter. How does a place like that have a gravity of 0.86? Especially considering that Ash's analysis of the planetoid reveals it to be 'rock, lava base'. Such a world wouldn't have such a strong gravitational pull, unless it were almost entirely solid lead! Such a planetoid, therefore, couldn't have supported any kind of atmosphere, and why are there no real traces of sedimentation? This would mean that the aliens couldn't have originated there, and would have had to have been transported from somewhere else, with more room for such a fast-paced biosphere.

So Dan wasn't an Earth science major or it was simply a typo. Not to mention that the diameter of the planet(oid) varies according to source; anywhere from 1200 km to 12,201 km.

Maybe there is more of the ship embedded underground? Perhaps volcanic activity covered up some of it? Or, IMO, it is in the ship on ground level. That ship looked absolutely huge compared to Kane, Dallas and Lambert, and we don't know exactly which way Kane was facing in the egg chamber (in relation to the derelicts' orientation, so the 'cave' could just be another chamber of the ship. Plus it looks like the rest of the ship, more or less (those chest elements in the walls are too repetitive and ordered to be alien resin).

I think that alot of the ship is subterranean, especially when you consider that Kane had to be lowered quite a ways before he reached the floor of the egg chamber. Add to that that the chamber might have been like "the goddamned tropics" due to the geothermal heat of this volcanic planet(oid).

[SM]

anywhere from 1200 km to 12,201 km.

Warren listed it as 1200m (metres or miles - I dunno which they intended). 

[maledoro]

Warren listed it as 1200m (metres or miles - I dunno which they intended). 

Technically, "m" means meters, and "mi" means miles.

[BishopIII]

Not to mention that the diameter of the planet(oid) varies according to source; anywhere from 1200 km to 12,201 km.

In the Director's Cut, Lambert says that the diameter is '1200 Kilometres'. 12,201km would make more sense, just shy of the size of the earth. Wonder why they didn't go with it?

I think that alot of the ship is subterranean, especially when you consider that Kane had to be lowered quite a ways before he reached the floor of the egg chamber. Add to that that the chamber might have been like "the goddamned tropics" due to the geothermal heat of this volcanic planet(oid).

That would make the planetoid very young if it still is volcanically active with a small diameter. Either that or the tidal forces of orbiting its gas giant have kept it active, in which case, Kane, Lambert and Dallas, not to mention the Hadley's Hope terraformers and the USCM platoon would have been fried by radiation and other electromagnetic forces, somewhat like standing near Jupiter. Unless of course, the gas giant's atmosphere isn't particularly turbulent. If the diameter is closer to the upper end, then none of that matters, except maybe the gamma ray bursts from the gas giant.

[maledoro]

In the Director's Cut, Lambert says that the diameter is '1200 Kilometres'. 12,201km would make more sense, just shy of the size of the earth. Wonder why they didn't go with it?

Like I said, either Dan (or anybody else) didn't know any better, or it was a typo. I'm not surprised if it was the latter; e.g., the Nostromo had at least three different serial numbers.

That would make the planetoid very young if it still is volcanically active with a small diameter. Either that or the tidal forces of orbiting its gas giant have kept it active, in which case, Kane, Lambert and Dallas, not to mention the Hadley's Hope terraformers and the USCM platoon would have been fried by radiation and other electromagnetic forces, somewhat like standing near Jupiter. Unless of course, the gas giant's atmosphere isn't particularly turbulent. If the diameter is closer to the upper end, then none of that matters, except maybe the gamma ray bursts from the gas giant.

Again, that is if the planet was that tiny.

[deezelboy]

In the Director's Cut, Lambert says that the diameter is '1200 Kilometres'. 12,201km would make more sense, just shy of the size of the earth. Wonder why they didn't go with it?

Hey, it's an order of magnitude above StarBeast's 120km - be thankful for that!  

A long time ago I was interested enough to try and work out if the 0.86g/1200km thing could work.  Even a 1200km sphere of iridium, very heavy and very dense, would give much less surface gravity than 0.86g.  

At that point I thought that more exotic, SF ideas would be enough to explain it, such as LV-426 being composed around a small core of neutronium.  Or even a natural occurrence of whatever is the cause of the Nostromo's artificial gravity, although I prefer neutronium!

Either that or the tidal forces of orbiting its gas giant have kept it active, in which case, Kane, Lambert and Dallas, not to mention the Hadley's Hope terraformers and the USCM platoon would have been fried by radiation and other electromagnetic forces, somewhat like standing near Jupiter. Unless of course, the gas giant's atmosphere isn't particularly turbulent.

Or it could be much like Saturn, which outputs a lot less radiation than Jupiter.  

I'm not sure that the planet(oid) having a larger diameter would do anything to protect it, though.  (Although I think I see where you're coming from: more diameter = more mass = denser atmosphere = more shielding, although it's mass that's what you're after.)  If the planet(oid) has it's own magnetosphere as well as a dense atmosphere, it's going to provide a fair amount of protection.

Such a planetoid, therefore, couldn't have supported any kind of atmosphere, and why are there no real traces of sedimentation? This would mean that the aliens couldn't have originated there...

I don't see why not.  Clearly LV426 does support an atmosphere, as we see it in the film (although not as thick as Earth's, if you go by the Hill&Giler script).

Not sure about your point regarding sedimentation - sorry to ask, but would you care to elaborate?

[BishopIII]

Not sure about your point regarding sedimentation - sorry to ask, but would you care to elaborate?

Sedimentation would be present in almost all life bearing worlds. The aliens would require an ecosystem more active than any on Earth, with a succession of lifeforms living and dying over billions of years, there would be a build up of sedimentary rocks, even if the natives use liquid methane or ammonia instead of water. Such a monotonous landscape of lava floes, as seen on LV 426, seems appropriate for a world that has been devoid of life all along. Unless there was an asteroid collision that made the oceans boil, and lava floes piss out all over the place.

Hey, it's an order of magnitude above StarBeast's 120km - be thankful for that!  

 

 Yeah! That makes 1200km sound reasonable!!

[SM]

The 1200km wasn't a typo.  If it were, then they wouldn't have Kane exclaim about it being tiny.

As for the density, ADF tries to address it by having Dallas not mention it Parker or Brett otherwise they'd go off prospecting for heavy metals.

[maledoro]

I forgot: Parker and Brett were into Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult.

[deezelboy]

Such a monotonous landscape of lava floes, as seen on LV 426, seems appropriate for a world that has been devoid of life all along.

It's hardly a monotonous world of lava floes, though, is it?

[BishopIII]

It's hardly a monotonous world of lava floes, though, is it?

 Maybe I worded it incorrectly, what I meant was that the world is covered with solidified lava, creating weird landscapes of igneous rock formations. Not exactly monotonous, I'll admit!

[deezelboy]

Sorry, probably my fault as well.  I think of lava floes, I think of flat, monotonous landscapes rather than stunning igneous rock formations! 

You might be interested in Giger's description of his design for the planet(oid):

I designed the alien planet, the landscape, which I made out of a mixture of bones, tubes, technical stuff, in order to achieve what I call my biomechanics...

...I wanted the landscape of the planet in the film to be biomechanic, a mixture of our technology and some kind of magma, so as to create the feeling that maybe something has happened before on that planet, maybe a technical civilization has been destroyed.

http://www.littlegiger.com/articles/files/Cinefantastique_09_01.pdf

LV426 might be far stranger than we give it credit for...

[BishopIII]

Sorry, probably my fault as well.  I think of lava floes, I think of flat, monotonous landscapes rather than stunning igneous rock formations! 

You might be interested in Giger's description of his design for the planet(oid):

LV426 might be far stranger than we give it credit for...

 So, those formations could have been an ancient industrial city?! I doubt it personally, but it does seem like a fascinating idea!

[SiL]

The 1200 km remark is one of those times where I say "And the Alien bleeds acid. What'cha gonna do."

[wmmvrrvrrmm]

 So, those formations could have been an ancient industrial city?! I doubt it personally, but it does seem like a fascinating idea!

I've liked the idea of there being an alien biological weapons factory that had been destroyed thousands of years ago on the planetoid once I read Giger's comments about the presence of a technical civilisation that was somehow destroyed resulting in the technical wreckage to be found within and around the magma