Phoenix (Star Trek)

The "Phoenix" is the fictional first human-made spacecraft to travel beyond the speed of light in the Star Trek science fiction film '.cite book|title=The Star Trek Encyclopedia|author=Okuda, Mike and Denise Okuda, with Debbie Mirek|publisher=Pocket Books|id=ISBN 0-671-53609-5|year=1999] It also appears in the opening sequence of all but two episodes of '. [cite web|url=http://www.startrek.com/startrek/cda/html/images/feature/docs/ent_open/timeline_begin.html| title=Star Trek Timeline: Enterprise Opening|accessdate=2007-06-09|publisher=Startrek.com]

Production

The Phoenix was designed by Herman Zimmerman and John Eaves, and was loosely based on a conjectural model created by Greg Jein that appeared in the first edition of "The Star Trek Chronology" in 1993. The ship was redesigned for "Star Trek: First Contact" because that film revealed that the ship was launched from an uprated Titan V rocket, a plot point unknown to Jein when the first edition of the "Chronology" was published. When the second, revised version of the "Chronology" was published in 1996, the information on the "Phoenix" was corrected to reflect the canonical information established in the film.

Fictional history

The fictional characters Zefram Cochrane and Lily Sloane built the "Phoenix" from an old Titan V nuclear missile. Lt. Commander Data remarks upon the irony regarding a nuclear missile being used to usher in an era of peace.

As depicted in "First Contact", the "Phoenix"'s voyage occurs on April 5, 2063, and its mission initiates first contact between Earth and extraterrestrials when a Vulcan survey ship detects the ship's warp signature. The Borg in that film travel in time in an attempt to prevent first contact and to assimilate Earth, but the USS "Enterprise"-E's crew manages to thwart their plan.

Legacy

As mentioned in "", the Phoenix is stored at the Smithsonian Museum by the 24th Century, and Cochrane's flight is the focus of a course taught at Starfleet Academy.

According to "The Star Trek Encyclopedia", the 24th Century Nebula-class Starfleet vessel that appeared in the fourth season "" episode "" was thought to have been named after Cochrane's historic ship.

References

External links

* [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/library/ships/article/123040.html The "Phoenix" at StarTrek.com]