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Space travelers in the Alien-'verse typically enter "Hypersleep Pods" in order to while away the journey time since even with fast FTL, spending months staring out of the window at the stars is pretty damned boring, likely to lead to self-destructive behaviour among the crew and would require a considerable amount of extra food and air.

Both the novelisation and the film's original script concur that the Nostromo crew open the film coming out of their hypersleep pods, the same pods that Ripley evidently entered at the end of the film (just after the credits rolled).

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

Another lid pops open. A young woman sits up.

LAMBERT: What time is it.

and

Of them all, only Ash seemed relatively content. His only concern at the moment was for the mental condition of his shipmates. There were no true recreation facilities on the ship for them to turn to. The Nostromo was a tug, a working vessel, not a pleasure craft. When not performing necessary tasks her crew was supposed to be spending its blank time in the comforting womb of hypersleep. It was only natural that unoccupied wake time would make them nervous under the best of circumstances, and the present circumstances were something less than the best.

One of the central conceits is that hypersleep massively retards the aging process. A year in hypersleep is equivalent to centuries in realtime. At the end of Alien, Ripley enters one of these pods and enters a state of cryogenic suspension. This is how she is able to survive 50+ years without (much) visible aging.

According to the salvage team seen at the beginning of Aliens, the pods on the Nostromo are somewhat antiquated, even by the standards of the day, tying into the whole "space travel on the cheap" theme

From an out-of-universe perspective, placing the film so far ahead allows them to have her character age slightly without really having to go into a deeper explanation of why she's older in the sequel.

Space travelers in the Alien-'verse typically enter "Hypersleep Pods" in order to while away the journey time since even with fast FTL, spending months staring out of the window at the stars is pretty damned boring, likely to lead to self-destructive behaviour among the crew and would require a considerable amount of extra food and air.

Both the novelisation and the film's original script concur that the Nostromo crew open the film coming out of their hypersleep pods, the same pods that Ripley evidently entered at the end of the film (just after the credits rolled).

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

Another lid pops open. A young woman sits up.

LAMBERT: What time is it.

and

Of them all, only Ash seemed relatively content. His only concern at the moment was for the mental condition of his shipmates. There were no true recreation facilities on the ship for them to turn to. The Nostromo was a tug, a working vessel, not a pleasure craft. When not performing necessary tasks her crew was supposed to be spending its blank time in the comforting womb of hypersleep. It was only natural that unoccupied wake time would make them nervous under the best of circumstances, and the present circumstances were something less than the best.

One of the central conceits is that hypersleep massively retards the aging process. A year in hypersleep is equivalent to centuries in realtime. At the end of Alien, Ripley enters one of these pods and enters a state of cryogenic suspension. This is how she is able to survive 50+ years without (much) visible aging.

According to the salvage team seen at the beginning of Aliens, the pods on the Nostromo are somewhat antiquated, even by the standards of the day, tying into the whole "space travel on the cheap" theme

From an out-of-universe perspective, placing the film so far ahead allows them to have her character age slightly without really having to go into a deeper explanation of why she's older in the sequel.

Space travelers in the Alien Universe typically enter "Hypersleep pods" in order to while away the journey time since even with fast FTL, spending months staring out of the window at the stars is pretty damned boring and liable to lead to self-destructive behaviour.

Both the novelisation and the film's original script concur that these are indeed hypersleep pods, much the same technology as seen in the sequels

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

Another lid pops open. A young woman sits up.

LAMBERT: What time is it.

and

Of them all, only Ash seemed relatively content. His only concern at the moment was for the mental condition of his shipmates. There were no true recreation facilities on the ship for them to turn to. The Nostromo was a tug, a working vessel, not a pleasure craft. When not performing necessary tasks her crew was supposed to be spending its blank time in the comforting womb of hypersleep. It was only natural that unoccupied wake time would make them nervous under the best of circumstances, and the present circumstances were something less than the best.

One of the central conceits is that hypersleep massively retards the aging process. A year in hypersleep is equivalent to centuries in realtime. At the end of Alien, Ripley enters one of these pods and enters a state of cryogenic suspension. This is how she is able to survive 50+ years without (much) visible aging.

Note that she's still in the same pod at the start of the sequel;

From an out-of-universe perspective, placing the film so far ahead allows them to have her character age slightly without really having to go into a deeper explanation of why she's older in the sequel.

Space travelers in the Alien-'verse typically enter "Hypersleep Pods" in order to while away the journey time since even with fast FTL, spending months staring out of the window at the stars is pretty damned boring, likely to lead to self-destructive behaviour among the crew and would require a considerable amount of extra food and air.

Both the novelisation and the film's original script concur that the Nostromo crew open the film coming out of their hypersleep pods, the same pods that Ripley evidently entered at the end of the film (just after the credits rolled).

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

Another lid pops open. A young woman sits up.

LAMBERT: What time is it.

and

Of them all, only Ash seemed relatively content. His only concern at the moment was for the mental condition of his shipmates. There were no true recreation facilities on the ship for them to turn to. The Nostromo was a tug, a working vessel, not a pleasure craft. When not performing necessary tasks her crew was supposed to be spending its blank time in the comforting womb of hypersleep. It was only natural that unoccupied wake time would make them nervous under the best of circumstances, and the present circumstances were something less than the best.

One of the central conceits is that hypersleep massively retards the aging process. A year in hypersleep is equivalent to centuries in realtime. At the end of Alien, Ripley enters one of these pods and enters a state of cryogenic suspension. This is how she is able to survive 50+ years without (much) visible aging.

According to the salvage team seen at the beginning of Aliens, the pods on the Nostromo are somewhat antiquated, even by the standards of the day, tying into the whole "space travel on the cheap" theme

From an out-of-universe perspective, placing the film so far ahead allows them to have her character age slightly without really having to go into a deeper explanation of why she's older in the sequel.

Space travelers in the Alien Universe typically enter "Hypersleep pods" in order to while away the journey time since even with fast FTL, spending months staring out of the window at the stars is pretty damned boring and liable to lead to self-destructive behaviour.

Both the novelisation and the film's original script concur that these are indeed hypersleep pods, much the same technology as seen in the sequels

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

Another lid pops open. A young woman sits up.

LAMBERT: What time is it.

and

Of them all, only Ash seemed relatively content. His only concern at the moment was for the mental condition of his shipmates. There were no true recreation facilities on the ship for them to turn to. The Nostromo was a tug, a working vessel, not a pleasure craft. When not performing necessary tasks her crew was supposed to be spending its blank time in the comforting womb of hypersleep. It was only natural that unoccupied wake time would make them nervous under the best of circumstances, and the present circumstances were something less than the best.

One of the central conceits is that hypersleep massively retards the aging process. A year in hypersleep is equivalent to centuries in realtime. At the end of Alien, Ripley enters one of these pods and enters a state of cryogenic suspension. This is how she is able to survive 50+ years without (much) visible aging.

Note that she's still in the same pod at the start of the sequel;

From an out-of-universe perspective, placing the film so far ahead allows them to have her character age slightly without really having to go into a deeper explanation of why she's older in the sequel.

Space travelers in the Alien Universe typically enter "Hypersleep pods" in order to while away the journey time since even with fast FTL, spending months staring out of the window at the stars is pretty damned boring and liable to lead to self-destructive behaviour.

Both the novelisation and the film's original script concur that these are indeed hypersleep pods, much the same technology as seen in the sequels

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT

Another lid pops open. A young woman sits up.

LAMBERT: What time is it.

and

Of them all, only Ash seemed relatively content. His only concern at the moment was for the mental condition of his shipmates. There were no true recreation facilities on the ship for them to turn to. The Nostromo was a tug, a working vessel, not a pleasure craft. When not performing necessary tasks her crew was supposed to be spending its blank time in the comforting womb of hypersleep. It was only natural that unoccupied wake time would make them nervous under the best of circumstances, and the present circumstances were something less than the best.

One of the central conceits is that hypersleep massively retards the aging process. A year in hypersleep is equivalent to centuries in realtime. At the end of Alien, Ripley enters one of these pods and enters a state of cryogenic suspension. This is how she is able to survive 50+ years without (much) visible aging.

Note that she's still in the same pod at the start of the sequel;

From an out-of-universe perspective, placing the film so far ahead allows them to have her character age slightly without really having to go into a deeper explanation of why she's older in the sequel.