Mead designed the "Sulaco", the marines' spaceship. He conceived it as a large sphere with antennae, but Cameron wanted it to be flatter; the full craft had to pass the camera, and a sphere would not work with the film's aspect ratio. Mead designed the craft as a commercial freighter carrying a military unit. Its exterior was designed with a row of loading doors, a crane, and large gun fixtures to defend against threats. Mirrors were used as a cost-cutting measure to increase the number of sleeping pods on the "Sulaco" and add a power loader. Cobb designed the "Sulaco" dropship interiors, the marines' land vehicle, the armored personnel carrier (APC), and exteriors of the colony and its vehicles. The "Sulaco"s dropship was designed to be life-size, for use on the "Sulaco" set, but a smaller replica was used for some shots. The APC was a disguised pushback tug for a Boeing 747. The alien derelict spacecraft, originally used in "Alien", had been in historian Bob Burns III' driveway since the first film was made.