Happy First Contact Day
We are not alone…
Four simple words that when proven true will leave us forever changed. To realize we’re not alone, that our shiny blue marble is not the only bastion of life in the big, black foreboding interstellar darkness, will be the greatest discovery in human history.
The ramifications are almost unimaginable. Yet one visionary looked to the stars and the human heart for answers. Gene Roddenberry imagined First Contact as the beginning of a renaissance for mankind: a time when we as a people united in ways never before thought possible. Roddenberry saw us finally evolve to a state where the color of one’s skin, the acquisition of personal wealth, and all the petty vices that have limited the human race for thousands of years no longer mattered.
April 5th sees the celebration of First Contact Day, where we honor the flight of the Phoenix and first contact with the Vulcans. Join Trek Radio all day as we celebrate this historic first meeting between humanity and our pointy-eared cosmic brothers. We will be covering the special “Ask Cryptic” Q&A event with STO Executive Producer Dan Stahl and Community Manager Brandon Felczer at 1pm PDT (4pm EDT/ 9pm BST). In addition, Star Trek Online will be kicking off a special four-day event where players can meet bridge officers of the Enterprise-F and pick up a replica of humanity’s first warp-capable ship, the Phoenix. This space craft is a deployable non-combat vessel. Get yours before the event ends!
If you are interested in learning more about First Contact Day, our friends over at StarTrek.com suggest checking out the TOS episode “Metamorphosis,” with Glenn Corbett portraying Cochrane; the TNG film First Contact, with James Cromwell in the role; the books First Contact and First Frontier; and the Voyager episode “Homestead,” in which Neelix and Naomi Wildman oversee a party celebrating the 315th anniversary of First Contact Day, complete with an old-school jukebox, helpings of Cochrane’s favorite food (cheese pierogies), and the sight and sounds of a stoic, reluctant Tuvok giving the Vulcan salute and uttering those immortal words, “Live long and prosper.”
Join us next year when we celebrate the first Annual Star Trek Day on Friday April 5, 2013. This date also marks the 50th Pre-Anniversary of First Contact Day in Star Trek canon.
by Risa Suraya
