Hyper-sleep, also spelled Hypersleep, is a form of suspended animation featured in the Aliens film series. It is a process used on space vessels that undergo extended deep-space missions. The process involves a sleeping pod linked to a ship's computer mainframe, which monitors all vital systems while the subject is in suspended animation, and is programmed to awaken them at a predetermined time. While in hyper-sleep, the aging process is suspended, so even if someone remains in the pod for several years, they will awaken no different than they were when they first entered it.
In the year 2122, the crew of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation commercial salvage ship, the USCSS Nostromo went into hyper-sleep while travelling through the Zeta II Reticuli system. Crew members included Captain Arthur Dallas, Gilbert Kane, J.M. Lambert, Ellen Ripley, S.E. Brett, J.T. Parker, and Ripley's cat, Jonesy. An android named Ash was also part of the crew, though his nature was unknown to the other crew members. Although Ash did not require the utilization of a hyper-sleep pod, he still slept in one in order to keep up appearances. An alien xenomorph managed to get onto the ship, killing most of the crew. Ripley destroyed it, after which, she placed herself in a shuttle along with Jonesy, which was also equipped with hyper-sleep capabilities. She floated aimlessly through space for the next fifty years. [1]
Her shuttle was eventually discovered by a salvage team in 2179. She was taken back to a Weyland-Yutani station where she was debriefed and made to give a deposition about what happened aboard the Nostromo. Weyland-Yutani representative Carter Burke noted that such an exceedingly long hyper-sleep could yield some unpleasant physiological side effects.
A military vessel called the USS Sulaco engaged on a mission to the planetoid colony world, LV-426. Ellen Ripley and Carter Burke were both in attendance, as well as a unit of the United States Colonial Marines. Members of the USCM who traveled in suspended animation included Scott Gorman, Dwayne Hicks, Al Apone, Tim Crow, Cynthia Dietrich, Mark Drake, Jenette Vasquez, Colette Ferro, Ricco Frost, Daniel Spunkmeyer, William Hudson and Trevor Wierzbowski. Jonesy the cat stayed at home this time. This mission also met with a grave encounter with an alien menace, and most of the crew were killed off. Ellen Ripley, Colonel Hicks and a young colonist named Rebecca "Newt" Jordan were the only ones to survive. They made it back to the Sulaco and entered hyper-sleep. [2]
The ship drifted for only a short period of time, but an alien facehugger managed to get on board. It's acidic blood caused a fire, which forced the Sulaco to launch its E.E.V. unit. The escaped pod crash-landed in the water on Fiorina 161. Ellen Ripley was the only who survived in hyper-sleep. [3]
In the year 2379, a mercenary vessel called The Betty was used to smuggle people to the research station-ship, the USM Auriga. The plan was that these people were to serve as living incubators for Xenomorph parasites and were implanted while in hyper-sleep. [4]
Notes[]
- Hypersleep redirects to this page.