The movie, "Alien," why would a commercial freighter have a self destruct system?

[2aguy]

Hey, man, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

I was going to post something snarky but that wouldn't be right........some areas should just be free of conflict...

 

[Moonglow]

Alien was playing on one of the cable channels as I was surfing.......and it occurred to me, after all these years.....why would a commerical freighter have a self destruct system that blew up the entire ship?

Even today, our military aircraft and ships don't have something like that, at most, the crew destroys all the computers and sensitive data.......

Just wondering....

Why, it's in the script.

 

[Zincwarrior]

Even today, our military aircraft and ships don't have something like that, at most, the crew destroys all the computers and sensitive data.......

You can scuttle a ship.

 

[Rigby5]

Alien was playing on one of the cable channels as I was surfing.......and it occurred to me, after all these years.....why would a commerical freighter have a self destruct system that blew up the entire ship?

Even today, our military aircraft and ships don't have something like that, at most, the crew destroys all the computers and sensitive data.......

Just wondering....

That is easy.
All flying object are potential bombs and need to have self destruct means.
Near the gravity of earth, a plane out of control can simply ditch before they get to a city.
But in space and with a huge mining ship, it is more dangerous than that.
Remember the ore was the mass of an asteroid, and over time would reach huge velocities.
A mistake could easily destroy a whole planet.

 

[Rigby5]

2aguy

I fully agree
And how can a tiny creature turn into a massive beast in a few days . Complete contradiction to the laws of “conservation of matter and energy “

Several possibilities.
One is the alien was eating something, like ore, supplies, rubber insulation, etc.
Another is that the alien was multi dimensional and brought mass in from a different plane of existence, like the Big Bang.

 

[Rigby5]

One of many plot holes in the film.

Disagree.

For example, space ship would never be aerodynamic.
Don't need to be aerodynamic.
Might be smooth, like a sphere or something, but only for ease of structural strength.

You do investigate a warning because it could be essential to learn what the threat is before it threatens the whole human race.
But of course the reality is the corporation wanted the Aliens for military purposes, right from the beginning.
That is why the secret android was on board.

 

[Resnic]

Alien was playing on one of the cable channels as I was surfing.......and it occurred to me, after all these years.....why would a commerical freighter have a self destruct system that blew up the entire ship?

Even today, our military aircraft and ships don't have something like that, at most, the crew destroys all the computers and sensitive data.......

Just wondering....

Well I'll get this out of the way first.

It's a fictional movie. It's not real. Trying to cram reality into something not real is pointless.

But this is also a God knows how much transport ship for a huge company that can transport God knows what. So a self destruct is a reasonable idea if they are carrying something a secret, or something that would be better blown up than stolen by space pirates. It was huge, what if it loses its ability to steer or has a problem that endangers life on a planet or a space station, better to scuttle it than kill or destory.

 

[Unkotare]

It was powered by a used Pinto engine.

 

[surada]

Alien was playing on one of the cable channels as I was surfing.......and it occurred to me, after all these years.....why would a commerical freighter have a self destruct system that blew up the entire ship?

Even today, our military aircraft and ships don't have something like that, at most, the crew destroys all the computers and sensitive data.......

Just wondering....

For the same reason Aramco kept thermite on hand to blow up the oilfields in Arabia during WW2.