Acheron

Acheron is a planetoid located somewhere near the Zeta II Reticuli System on the outer rim. By the planetary classification standards of the time, Acheron has also been referred to as planet LV-426. Millennia ago, an alien space jockey crash-landed on LV-426 carrying a cargo consisting of thousands of xenomorph eggs. The exact nature of the pilot's death is undetermined, but what is clear is that at some point either prior or after the crash, one of the pods hatched and used the pilot as a host body to produce another xenomorph. Prior to his death, the pilot sent out a distress beacon which remained unanswered for many years.

In the year 2157, the commercial towing vessel USCSS Nostromo was on a return trip towards Earth from the Solomons when they intercepted the pilot's distress beacon. Per company orders, they were required to investigate the beacon and the crew sent a drop ship to LV-426. The landing party discovered the derelict as well as the fossilized remains of the pilot. Commander Kane found the hatchery and was attacked by an alien face hugger that sprung from one of the pods. The crew brought Kane back aboard the ship where the creature implanted a seed that gestated inside of him. Hours later, the "chest burster" emerged from Kane's body, killing him. It quickly grew into a full xenomorph and killed everyone on the ship except for warrant officer Ellen Ripley. Ripley managed to destroy the Nostromo as well as the xenomorph then placed herself into cryonic stasis for the long trip back to Earth.

In the intervening years, Ripley's employers at the Weyland-Yutani Corporation learned about the planet and used it as part of its terra-forming programs. Dubbed a "shake and bake colony", they established Hadleys' Hope, a settlement of more than seventy families who all worked for Weyland-Yutani. Their function on the planet was to construct and maintain atmospheric processors designed to make the air breathable for humans. The colonists prospered on LV-426 for more than twenty years without ever learning about the derelict ship, its pilot or its dangerous alien cargo.

In the year 2179, a deep space salvage team recovered Ellen Ripley's life boat, the Narcissus, which had been adrift for fifty-seven years. She was brought back to the company's Gateway Station facility where she was fully debriefed. Upon learning that colonists were now living on Acheron, Ripley tried to stress the importance of how dangerous the xenomorph life forms were.

When the company lost contact with LV-426, they decided to sent a team of Colonial Marines to investigate. They had hoped it was something pedestrian like a downed transmitter, but in case there was any merit to Ripley's story, they asked her to accompany the team as a consultant.

Ripley and the marines (as well as an android named Bishop) set down on LV-426 and found the processing facility completely deserted. Investigating further, they found the place swarming with xenomorphs. In the space of only a few hours, the aliens had killed nearly everyone on the landing party. Ripley succeeded in safeguarding a young girl named Rebecca "Newt" Jordan, who had managed to hide from the aliens after her family had been killed. After a stark encounter with a xenomorph queen, Ripley managed to get Newt back to the marines' ship. Along with Bishop and a grunt named Corporal Dwayne Hicks, they blasted off of the planetoid and nuked the site from orbit. The processing center as well as the old derelict ship were destroyed in the blast.

Films that take place on

 * Alien (1979)
 * Aliens (1986)

People who were born on

 * Alien Queen
 * Timothy Jordan
 * Rebecca Jordan

People who died on

 * A. Apone
 * Anne Jordan
 * C. Dietrich
 * C. Ferro
 * Carter Burke
 * D. Spunkmeyer
 * Lydecker
 * J. Vasquez
 * M. Drake
 * R. Frost
 * Russ Jordan
 * S. Gorman
 * Space Jockey
 * T. Crowe
 * T. Wierzbowski
 * Timothy Jordan
 * W. Hudson

Notes & Trivia

 * Although identified as a planetoid in Alien, Acheron is actually one of two natural satellites in orbit around a larger, unnamed planet.


 * In the films, the planetoid is only ever referred to as LV-426.