Zefram Cochrane's Warp Flight and First Contact

Ten years after World War III, Earth was still in ruins. In Bozeman, Montana, the engineer Zefram Cochrane built the Phoenix, the first human ship capable of travelling faster than light, using a disused nuclear missile as its frame. On 5 April 2063 he made a short warp flight that would change the course of history.

The flight's warp signature was detected by a Vulcan survey ship passing through the solar system. That evening the Vulcans landed near the launch site to greet the humans: it was the first official contact between humanity and an alien species. In the film First Contact, the event is threatened by the Borg, who travelled back in time to prevent it, and the crew of the Enterprise-E protected the flight while helping a reluctant Cochrane.

The meeting opened a new era. Under Vulcan guidance, humanity overcame poverty, disease and war within a few decades and turned to space. April 5 is remembered as First Contact Day, and the date is seen as the founding moment of the future Federation.