Stasis

Stasis
Stasis
Equipment:	Cryogenic Suspension Units
Use:	stasis
Service:	marines
Construction:	synthetic alloy
Weight:	2.55x10³kgs
Life support:	nitrogen, oxygen
Dimensions:
Length:	2.5m
Width:	0.85m
Height:	1.5m
Operational conditions:	-20 - +40°C

Name

Stases also known as Hypersleep are Cryogenic Suspension Units used by U.S.C.M.s and civilian crew for long distance space flight and medical use. They are used mainly on spacecraft and cruisers, they can also be found on the U.S.C.M. UD4L Cheyenne Dropships and in Med Labs on BG386, LV426 and LV1201.

Characteristics

Reference stats table.

Appearance

Appearances in the following;
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Aliens v Predator Original, Gold, Classic
Aliens v Predator 3
Alien Resurrection
Aliens (film)
Alien 3 (film)
Prometheus (film)
Alien (film)
Aliens: Infestation
Alien Breed

Variations

Alien Trilogy
Alien (film)
Prometheus (film)
Aliens v Predator - Jaguar
Alien Resurrection (film)

Other vehicles

ATV
APC
Power Loader

Interactions

Aliens v Predator 3
A Stasis unit in the Research Lab was used for Tequila and for the rest of the crew aboard the UD4L Cheyenne Dropship at the end of the Aliens v Predator 3 campaigns on the surface of BG386.

Alien (film)
In the film there were stasis units aboard the Nostromo for all the crew including Ash with only one stasis unit aboard the Narcissus that Ripley uses for her return to Earth. The crew emerge from stasis as they neared LV426 before descending to the surface. The Narcissus' stasis unit being similiar with the units aboard the Nostromo, able to keep Ripley alive for 57 years.

Aliens (film)
In the film there were stasis units aboard the Sulaco which the crew used as they reached LV426, again the survivors used them as they set course for Earth only for them to be ejected into an EEV in the film Alien 3.

Alien 3 (film)
Ripley was the sole survivor of the crashed EEV, with Hicks' unit being damaged due to the impact and Newts' damaged from a Face Hugger. Ripley later used her stasis' intact scanner trying to find if there was any organism inside her.

Prometheus (film)
David in Prometheus (film) links via a neuro visor to the Stasis units, these units also link to the ship's computer.

Continuity

Various
The stasis units used in Aliens v Predator Original, Aliens v Predator Gold, Aliens v Predator Classic, Alien Trilogy, Alien Resurrection, Aliens v Predator 3, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Aliens (film) and Aliens 3 (film) all feature similiar opening and control mechanisms, except Alien Trilogy, Alien (film) and Prometheus (film).

Although gameplay in Aliens: Colonial Marines is set aboard the Sulaco and not the Sephora, it can be assumed that the configuration for both is similiar including the number of stasis units, this can also be assumed for other spacecraft similiar with the USS Sulaco.

Alien Trilogy
In Alien Trilogy the stases are linked around a central pillar like Alien (film) although there are only four units.

After LV426 is destroyed in both Playstation and Sega Saturn Alien Trilogy games, Ripley having escaped the Derelict and boarded a Dropship piloted by Bishop, in the Sega Saturn game they both then reach the USS Sulaco and Bishop puts Ripley in stasis and the unit is ejected in the Narcissus.

Aliens v Predator (Jaguar)
Cryogenic Suspension Tanks are used in Aliens v Predator (Jaguar) these are similiar to stasis but are vertical units controlled by a 'cryosleep monitoring systems', these were used for cryosleep and for sentence serving as in the case of Lance J.Lewis.

Aliens v Predator 3
In the game Aliens v Predator 3 stasis units appeared aboard the UD4L Cheyenne Dropship as the survivors leave BG386, these units are similiar with the units appearing in the Labs of the Research Lab.

Aliens: Colonial Marines
In the game, stasis units appear aboard the Sulaco as in the film Aliens, these appear in Hypersleep, an area between Cargo Bay M21 and Life Support. These units are aligned in a row up against the wall like the film Aliens, were the stasis units open into prep and a mess but there are more units and extra doors that lead into Life Support. In the game the developers implied that it was these units that the crew used after the battle with the Queen and then setting a course for Earth. Mobile Stasis Units also appear in the game like in the film Aliens Resurrection, these are used for holding humans in suspension as they are transported from one location to another.

Aliens Resurrection (film)
Mobile Stasis Units first appeared in the film Aliens Resurrection and were used by the crew of the Betty bringing miners to the USM Auriga. They then appeared in the game Aliens: Colonial Marines used for a similiar purpose.

Alien (film)
The units in the film are aligned around a central pillar on the Nostromo with one unit aboard the Narcissus.

On-set

Filming on set occurred at Sheppardine Studios, the sets of the Nostromo's three decks were each created almost entirely in one piece, with each deck occupying a separate stage and the various rooms connected via corridors. To move around the sets the actors had to navigate through the hallways of the ship, adding to the film's sense of claustrophobia and realism. The Cryo Room was built as part of the set with vertically lifting stasis units.

Production

Stasis units were constructed around a central pillar in one of the side rooms on the bridge deck which was reached from the mess hall which then linked into the other rooms on that level.

Aliens (film)
The units in the film are aligned in a row and the area opens into prep and a mess aboard the Sulaco.

On-set

Filming on set occurred at Pinewood Studios. The idea of long space travel and giving the crew stasis units derived from the film Alien and although the Sulaco was a faster spacecraft this idea was reused with adapted and more advanced opening mechanisms.

HyperSleep chambers in filming measured 8" long x 2.3" wide x 4" tall. They were constructed of a wooden sub frame, steel, aluminum, plexiglas and rubber gaskets. They also contained fabric covered sleeping pads. The lid was hinged and lifted like a clamshell and with an electronic control panel at the foot of the chamber with lights, buttons and dials.

Production

The crew used many junk items in the set designs, such as Ripley's toilet, which came from a Boeing 707, lockers, helicopter engines, and vending machines were used as set elements in the opening hypersleep scene. Production designer Peter Lamont was asked to reduce the cost of several scenes including the not yet filmed space marine hypersleep sequence. Gale Hurd wanted to cut the scene altogether but Lamont and Cameron felt it was important to the sequence of the film. To save on cost, only four hypersleep chambers were created and a mirror was used to create the illusion that there were twelve in the scene. Instead of using hydraulics, the chambers were opened and closed by wires operated by puppeteers.

Alien 3 (film)
The units in the film are ejected in an EEV from the front of the Sulaco and shortly after splashed into the water near the correctional facility on Fiorina 'Fury' 161.

On-set

A 3' 6" model was produced on the EEV, this and a 16' model was used for filming against a blue screen with motion control as the EEV first detaches and then as it drifts towards Finora 'Fury' 161.

For the salvage of the EEV production crew used the 3' model held by a crane filmed against a blue screen, miniature people were positioned on it giving it a sense of scale.

Production

As they first find Ripley and as she returns aboard, for the interior filming the EEV was filmed on another 16' model on the set outside, this included using silicon models for the cast. Real oxen were used in the filming as they recovered the EEV dragging it along a lamp lit path.

Prometheus (film)
In Prometheus (film) stases are horizontal units with bio-electrical interfaces built into the stasis cover, these are clear/yellow capsules and there is a stasis for each crew member except David aboard the Prometheus, these are unique in the franchise but are similiar to stases in the film Alien. The Stases units in Prometheus can be linked via a neuro visor and are linked to the ship's computer.

The only product on the market capable of suspending the body’s autonomic functions while maintaining the health of each individual cell during stasis. A Holographic display communicates with ship’s mainframe to monitor metabolic conditions to suspend cell function. The Hypersleep Chambers can be programmed to initiate, maintain and terminate hypersleep stasis of human crew depending on length of mission and percent FTL travel. Zero-loss lithium ion batteries in a tertiary backup system support the chamber’s function for up to 100 years in case of emergency.

On-set

Made and filmed on set at Pinewood Studios, stases were configured radially around the Cryo Rooms on deck levels 2 and 4 for Prometheus with a similiar design for Alien which was filmed on the Nostromo bridge deck.

Production

Interfaces (UIs) in filming were projected in real time by Territory Studios and Inventing Interactive, in the film these were projected as David perceived Shaw's dreams, this in the film required the use of a Neuro Visor which David also uses later to communicate with Weyland when he is still in his stasis after a surviving Terraformer is found by David. Shaw's dream sequence was produced by Prologue Films while she was asleep in stasis, these interfaces being unique to Prometheus apart from Ripley's EEV stasis which had a display for a neuro and body scanner.

Timeline

Stases first appeared in the film Alien aboard the Nostromo and Narcissus, later appearing in all Alien films and also in the Alien and Alien v Predator games.