April 5th 2063, was First Contact Day. The day Humanity launched its first Warp 1 vessel, the Phoenix, and met the Vulcans. it is a day that has not happened, yet, but it is only 44.364 years away, as of yesterday (not including leap years).

Yesterday we celebrated a day that has not yet occurred, though, this shouldn't and wouldn't stop fans of Star Trek First celebrating both the warp 1 flight of the Phoenix and first open contact between Humans and Vulcans in Bozeman, Montana.

Scientist Zefram Cochrane had been developing the Phoenix - a modified Titan II rocket - for years, and on the 5th of April, 2063, she was finally ready to launch. With the roar of its disposable first-stage, the Phoenix blasted off into the sky, rock-and-roll music blaring in the cockpit. As Phoenix reached the atmosphere and broke though, the first stage was disposed off, left to drop down to earth, and Phoenix's nacelles folded out from her secondary stage, and she jumped to warp.

This event piqued the interest of Vulcan science vessel T'Plana-Hath (the same ship you see in Star Trek: Enterprise), and, as per Vulcan First Contact protocols, she flew to meet Phoenix and land on Earth (a planet which Vulcan High Command had been monitoring for decades), in Bozeman, Montana.

Upon landing into the gathered crowed of Humans, the most senior of T'Plana-Hath's three-man crew departed from the ship, offering the Vulcan salute, "Live long, and prosper". This lead to Dr. Cochrane attempting to do the same, but failed to replicated the hand gesture, instead he shook the Vulcan's hand with a thanks.

After the events of the First Contact, Humanity made efforts to rebuild the Earth from the ashes of a devastating nuclear war, within fifty years, the planet saw many forms of poverty and disease wiped from existence. It would be a rocky fifty years, recovery on a global scale was inconsistent, and in the early 2080s, many areas still remained in a state of near-anarchy. Even into the early 22nd century, Earth was still seen as recovering from World War III.

This event - First Contact with the Vulcans - influenced Humanity's future for centuries to come, well into the 24th century, as the Vulcans took Humanity under their wing, and helped them reach warp two around the 2140's, in the NX-Project. Following, the NX-class NX-01, Enterprise was launched in 2151, she was the first of a line of ships that would, from a design and organizational point of view, evolve into the ships used by Starfleet into the 24th century and beyond.

Thus, First Contact Day is one of the - if not the most important day in the history of Mankind, setting off a domino-effect, which causes the creation of the United Federation of Planets. A day to be celebrated indeed.

What did you think of First Contact Day? Let us know in the comments!

WRITTEN BY Nesta
EDITED BY Three of Seven - rena.hobden@ufplanets.com