Could Cochrane of Alpha Centauri mean Alpha Centauri project/institute?

[Yistaan]

Or, Cochrane headed the team that built the first warp ship, flew one flight, collected his money (definitely didn't "give away" the plans), never went into space again until he did so to die.

I don't think Cochrane would have wanted to die in space if he didn't develop an attachment to it after First Contact.

In fact, considering how he was established as not really liking all the attention (in both First Contact and Metamorphosis), he probably grew to like being in space really quickly as a way to get away from all the hassle his fame brought.

It occurred to me that the line that aged the worst in First Contact was Geordi's "I wish I had a picture of this," when Cochrane was standing where his statue would be. I know the film was made before cellphone technology advanced to create the selfie craze where everyone had cameras in their phones, but it wouldn't have been hard to extrapolate even in 1996 that Geordi would just have pulled out his PADD and took a photo of Cochrane then and there.

 

[Maurice]

D) A. Cent was a research organization put together to research and build a warp drive.In First Contact, Cochrane came off as anything but bold, it took a lot of convincing to get him to do the first flight.Or, Cochrane headed the team that built the first warp ship, flew one flight, collected his money (definitely didn't "give away" the plans), never went into space again until he did so to die.

Then why would they call him Zefram Cochrane of Alpha Centauri? You don’t call somebody something on the basis of where they go to die.

 

[MAGolding]

i always wondered whether Zefram Cochrane "Of Alpha Centaruri" was from Earth or from Alpha Centauri.

That is still a conundrum in any fictional Star Trek universe which doesn't include First Contact, Enterprise, and other productions which mention that Cochrane was an Earth man who made first contact with aliens.

Ancient Roman victory titles may be useful to consider.

Victory titles were suffixed to the commander's name and were usually the name of the enemy defeated by the commander. Some victory titles became hereditary cognomina, while others were personal agnomina and not carried on by later family members. Names like Africanus ("the African"), Numidicus ("the Numidian"), Isauricus ("the Isaurian"), Creticus ("the Cretan"), Gothicus ("the Goth"), Germanicus ("the German") and Parthicus ("the Parthian") expressed the triumphal subjugation of these peoples or their territories, or commemorated the locations of general's successful campaigns, equivalent to modern titles like Lawrence of Arabia, and were not indicators of origin.

.

So an ancient Roman could be called "The African", or "The Asian", or "The Persian", while being a Roman and not an African, Asian, or Persian. Instead it meant being of African, Asian, or Persian fame.

So either Zefram Cochrane was from Alpha Centauri, being born there of Earth or Alpha Centaurian ancestry, or else he did something famous with, to, for, against, or at Alpha Centauri, Or possibly he was famous for leading the first expedition to Alpha Centauri.

 

[drt]

Early TOS history does show that Earth developed space flight and interstellar exploration much earlier than retconned by TNG...thru DISCO.

Probably because in the mid-60s everyone assumed we'd be landing manned missions on Mars by 1980 and exploring Jupiter and Saturn 20 years after that. The more modern shows keep have to push things back as reality unfortunately creeps in...

It occurred to me that the line that aged the worst in First Contact was Geordi's "I wish I had a picture of this," when Cochrane was standing where his statue would be. I know the film was made before cellphone technology advanced to create the selfie craze where everyone had cameras in their phones, but it wouldn't have been hard to extrapolate even in 1996 that Geordi would just have pulled out his PADD and took a photo of Cochrane then and there.

Or just save an image with his robot eyes.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

In fact, considering how he was established as not really liking all the attention (in both First Contact and Metamorphosis), he probably grew to like being in space really quickly as a way to get away from all the hassle his fame brought.

I like this a lot. It makes a lot of sense.

It occurred to me that the line that aged the worst in First Contact was Geordi's "I wish I had a picture of this," when Cochrane was standing where his statue would be. I know the film was made before cellphone technology advanced to create the selfie craze where everyone had cameras in their phones, but it wouldn't have been hard to extrapolate even in 1996 that Geordi would just have pulled out his PADD and took a photo of Cochrane then and there.

Excellent point. The things that really date a movie or a TV show are hardly ever what you expect. Stuff like that and the lack of email-like communications where you can send files remotely (rather than hand-delivering a PADD) are two of the things that really date TNG now.

Hmm... I wonder if you could handwave the hand-delivering a PADD thing by claiming that it's a security protocol? Kind of like how hand ballots are more secure in elections because they can't be hacked by a machine. If a PADD is unconnected to the main computer systems of the Enterprise, then the information they contain would be less likely to be remotely accessed by an enemy agent.

 

[Yistaan]

Hmm... I wonder if you could handwave the hand-delivering a PADD thing by claiming that it's a security protocol? Kind of like how hand ballots are more secure in elections because they can't be hacked by a machine. If a PADD is unconnected to the main computer systems of the Enterprise, then the information they contain would be less likely to be remotely accessed by an enemy agent.

The hand delivery of PADDs hasn't aged well at all, but I think it's also a dramatic storytelling trick that works well on television with an officer dramatically handing a PADD full of shocking news to the captain. For example, Preemptive Strike on TNG after Ro's defection to the Maquis--

Riker: She seemed very sure that she was making the right choice. I think her only real regret was that she let you down. Here's my report.
(Picard doesn't move to take the PADD, so Riker puts it on the desk and leaves)

I don't think that ending scene would have worked been quite as well if Riker said, "I already transmitted my report" and walked out, and then Picard turns off his laptop computer in a fit of anger or something.

Also see where Riker hands a PADD to Picard regarding the pointless Neutral Zone sensor sweep in First Contact.

Even the recent Picard show

Spoiler: Picard show stuff

had a dramatic but completely nonsensical scene where Picard uses his old combadge to contact Raffi after 14 years, when realistically he would have sent an email or holomail asking to speak with her. A Starfleet issued combadge likely wouldn't even work for him once he resigned from Starfleet.

And even recent shows ignore basic tech like vehicle security in favor of drama. Picard taking a ship that doesn't belong to him in a recent Picard episode for instance, when even in the 21st century you can't just take someone's car without having their key.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I don't think that ending scene would have worked been quite as well if Riker said, "I already transmitted my report" and walked out, and then Picard turns off his laptop computer in a fit of anger or something.

Eh, I could easily see them staging the scene like that if an equivalent scene was being shot today. Or they'd do something else.

You'll probably want to put those PICARD references behind SPOILER code, though, as there's a moratorium on uncoded spoilers until six months after an episode premieres.

 

[T'Bonz]

Don't forget to use spoiler codes for shows currently airing. I've adjusted this one for you.

 

[Yistaan]

Oh ok, oops. Thanks for editing the post.

 

[Timo]

Even the recent Picard show

Spoiler: Picard show stuff

had a dramatic but completely nonsensical scene where Picard uses his old combadge to contact Raffi after 14 years, when realistically he would have sent an email or holomail asking to speak with her. A Starfleet issued combadge likely wouldn't even work for him once he resigned from Starfleet.

And even recent shows ignore basic tech like vehicle security in favor of drama. Picard taking a ship that doesn't belong to him in a recent Picard episode for instance, when even in the 21st century you can't just take someone's car without having their key.

Spoiler: Picard show stuff

I think the very idea was a modern-day one: that no amount of encrypting would stop the future NSA from intercepting Picard's secret message, but using an archaic channel would defeat this. That is, the old badges would work on a futuro-bandwidth that was no longer being supported, and could not connect to the interstellar net or anything, but they still worked fine as badge-to-badge walkie-talkies.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Falconer]

FWIW, another TOS reference has been called to my attention, from Requiem for Methuselah: “The Creation Lithographs, by Taranullus of Centauri VII. That’s one of the rarest book collections in the galaxy, spanning centuries.”

 

[Tuskin38]

It’s so much cooler to imagine us pioneering space ourselves rather than being taken under the wing of the Vulcans from day one.

Well not completely. The Vulcans didn't want the NX-01 to go out and explore, and most of the crew was still Human. The NX-01 was made of mostly Human tech as well. Remember the Vulcans didn't give them any warp drive advancements, all of that was all done by humans.

Yes Vulcans helped earth get by on its feet, but everything was still done by humans.

 

[Ronald Held]

Taranullus could have done most of his/her work elsewhere and migrated to Alpha Centauri late in life? Also he/she may not be human?

 

[Falconer]

Indeed, I’m guessing Taranullus = Flint.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Indeed, I’m guessing Taranullus = Flint.

I'd imagine that that was the intent, yes.

 

[Shat Happens]

mods can EDIT users' posts? how can I know everything here was not edited?

 

[Henoch]

FWIW, another TOS reference has been called to my attention, from Requiem for Methuselah: “The Creation Lithographs, by Taranullus of Centauri VII. That’s one of the rarest book collections in the galaxy, spanning centuries.”

The information comes from McCoy. Since when did he read books? Anyway, "The Creation of Lithographs" might be a rare collection of books gathered together by Taranullus of Centauri Seven (aka Flint), and the collection of lithographs spanned centuries with no reflection that the book collector Taranullus spanned several centuries.

 

[Ronald Held]

That is plausible, given Flint's long life.

 

[Henoch]

For the author to publicly span centuries would defeat the identity of Flint as a normal human. No, not it. Besides, he would have to be one of the first inhabitants of Alpha Centauri since Cochrane himself could only got there two centuries ago. Did he crew with Cochrane then stay there for centuries...probably not. Or was Centauri Seven already populated by human looking aliens, then Cochrane made first contact with them, then Flint emigrated there and impersonated himself as a Centaurian? How confusing; he's such a crafty bastard.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Why does Centauri VII have to be in orbit of Alpha Centuari? The constellation has several stars.