ZEFRAM COCHRANE

'Zefram Cochrane' is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry. Portrayed by Glenn Corbett on television and James Cromwell in a motion picture, Cochrane is the first human to travel at warp speed. Cochrane's flight in 2063 garners the Vulcans' attention, leading to humanity's first contact with aliens.
Corbett played the character for his first appearance in the '' episode "Metamorphosis". Cromwell played Cochrane in the film '' and the '' pilot, "Broken Bow". ''First Contact'' footage of Cromwell as Cochrane was used in the ''Enterprise'' episode "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part I", along with new footage of an identically-dressed actor whose face is not shown.
Tom Hanks, the original choice to play Cochrane in ''First Contact'', had to withdraw because the Trek production conflicted with filming ''That Thing You Do!''. Other sources state that he withdrew when the producers declined to rewrite the Cochrane role to make it of equal importance with that of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Contents

Flight, disappearance and rediscovery

''Federation''

References

External links

Flight, disappearance and rediscovery

In 2053, Zefram Cochrane began construction of humanity's first warp-capable vessel, the ''Phoenix'', in Bozeman, Montana.^[1] According to his dialog in ''First Contact'', he started the project for financial gain.¹
On April 5, 2063 at 11:15 AM, Cochrane makes Earth's first warp flight, playing Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" during blast-off.¹ His warp signature is detected by a Vulcan survey ship, the ''T'Plana Hath'', which then makes peaceful first contact with humans, including Cochrane, at the ''Phoenix'''s launch site.¹ In the Mirror Universe, rather than reciprocating the Vulcans' peaceful greeting, Cochrane and the other humans kill the Vulcans and loot their ship.

Cochrane was presumed dead after disappearing from Alpha Centauri in 2117.¹ In the TOS episode "Metamorphosis," James T. Kirk, Spock, and Leonard McCoy find Cochrane living on an asteroid with a being he calls Companion, an ethereal presence of pure energy who rejuvenated the aged, dying Cochrane more than a century before, and has held him captive — and in a state of youth and vigor — ever since.¹ Traveling with the three Starfleet officers is an ill Federation commissioner.¹ The Companion, who loves Cochrane, merges with the commissioner, ridding her of her illness and providing the companion with a corporeal form.¹ The combined entity no longer has power to force Cochrane to stay with her, but Cochrane chooses to stay out of love and gratitude. Before departing, the Starfleet trio promise not to reveal Cochrane's existence.¹

''Federation''

In the novel ''Federation'' by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, whose publication predated the release of ''First Contact'' by two years, Zefram Cochrane's story is told in a different fashion: his warp experiments are the result of a mysterious billionaire's financial and idealistic support in the period between the Eugenics Wars and World War III; his self-identification with Alpha Centauri results from it being the destination of his first warp voyage and his subsequent founding role in the first colony in the system; and his life's story beyond his encounter with Kirk at Gamma Canaris in "Metamorphosis" is depicted up to his death during the events of the third season of ''.^[2]

References

1. The Star Trek Encyclopedia, Okuda, Mike and Denise Okuda, with Debbie Mirek, , , Pocket Books, 1999, ISBN 0-671-53609-5
2. Federation, , Judith and Garfield, Reeves-Stevens, Pocket Books, ,

External links

★ Article about ''Federation'' (novel) at Memory Alpha