# Origin of "nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure." **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 9, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-nuke-it-from-orbit-its-the-only-way-to-be-sure/363737 "2006-07-09T15:02:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-nuke-it-from-orbit-its-the-only-way-to-be-sure/363737/81 "2006-07-14T15:22:27Z")
I have always wodnered: any reason the space ship was called the Sulaco? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-nuke-it-from-orbit-its-the-only-way-to-be-sure/363737/82 "2006-07-14T16:08:24Z")
[QUOTE=First Amongst Daves] I have always wodnered: any reason the space ship was called the Sulaco? [/QUOTE] The space freighter in _Alien_ was named the _Nostromo_, which is the [title of a novel by Joseph Conrad](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostromo). “Sulaco” is a (fictional) town from that novel. Presumably the _Nostromo_ was named that in the original movie because someone associated with _Alien_ liked Joseph Conrad, and they named the _Sulaco_ just as sort of an in-joke. There is sort of a Hollywoodized, popularized, vaguely-Conradesque feel to _Alien_ and _Aliens_: a heartlessly exploitative ruthlessly capitalist “Company” sends people into the heart of the darkness of space, where no one can hear them scream, where their own fellow men\* are more corrupt and more dangerous than the alien monsters which lurk there. Or something like that. (\*Well, androids pretending to be fellow men, but programmed by fellow men–besides, Burke was human.) I don’t know what in-continuity explanation there might be for why the Company named one of its space freighters after an early 20th century novel, or why the Colonial Marines have a warship with a name _also_ taken from that novel. Maybe there was a _huge_ Joseph Conrad revival on Earth in the 2090’s, and now the Way of Joseph Conrad (pbuh) is the Established Church of Earth and its various colonies. Incidentally, _Nostromo_’s shuttlecraft is referred to as the [_Narcisuss_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nigger_of_the_Narcissus) (at least in the novelizations–I don’t know if the name is ever actually spoken on-screen by anyone). ---
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-nuke-it-from-orbit-its-the-only-way-to-be-sure/363737/83 "2006-07-14T16:26:26Z")
Many thanks. I knew about _Nostromo_, but not having read it, I didn’t know about Sulaco. Perhaps _Heart of Darkness_ would have been too obvious. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-nuke-it-from-orbit-its-the-only-way-to-be-sure/363737/84 "2006-07-18T18:32:09Z")
[QUOTE=First Amongst Daves] Many thanks. I knew about _Nostromo_, but not having read it, I didn’t know about Sulaco. Perhaps _Heart of Darkness_ would have been too obvious. [/QUOTE] The ships in _Starship Troopers_ have a less obscure but similarly thematic naming scheme: The larger ships are named after famous battlegrounds (Valley Forge, Hastings, El Alamein, Waterloo, etc.) while the smaller ships are named for military figures (Rodger Young, Audie Murphy, Vercingetorix, Montgomery, Geronimo…). ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-nuke-it-from-orbit-its-the-only-way-to-be-sure/363737/85 "2006-07-18T18:45:35Z")
Oh you want some of this … you to…come and get it… waarrrgggggggg {dragged down by the aliens to his doom} well ok the dialoge wasn’t exactly like that but close as I can remember ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-nuke-it-from-orbit-its-the-only-way-to-be-sure/363737/86 "2006-07-18T20:20:14Z")
Earlier this year, Microsoft got some press for publicly using the phrase “nuke it from orbit” to describe a recommended total reformat and reimage after a system has been infected with malware. (This was news because it was the first time they were admitting what a lot of us have known for a while – “It’s the only way to be sure.”) Also, I named my cat Newt after the little girl in Aliens. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-nuke-it-from-orbit-its-the-only-way-to-be-sure/363737/87 "2006-07-18T20:21:31Z")
er, for computers affected by _certain_ malware… the Microsoft guy wasn’t recommending a nuke from orbit for every simple virus-infected computer. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-nuke-it-from-orbit-its-the-only-way-to-be-sure/363737/88 "2006-07-18T20:29:39Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] **Wierzbowski** , the forgotten one. [/QUOTE] Sadly, [Wierzbowski](http://www.wierzbowski.net/) didn’t even get the lines you attributed to him. All of his lines from the original script either went to Frost or were just cut. The only thing Weirzbowski gets to say is “Ahhahagghahghh…” after the ammunition pack explodes and Weirzbowski gets thrown (and then presumably an alien eats him off scene since his yell is several seconds later). Truly, T. Wierzbowski is the forgotten Colonial Marine ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-nuke-it-from-orbit-its-the-only-way-to-be-sure/363737.md?page=4)