What did Cochrane invent???

[Wingsley]

It could be that "the space-warp" technology that Cochrane supposedly "discovered" was nacelle-based technology, which Earth and all its allies eventually adopted as a new "gold standard" in FTL propulsion. That would explain why Cochrane would be an interstellar historic figure.

 

[SchwEnt]

Yeah, it seems to be more complex than you'd think.
"Discover of the space warp" isn't the same as "inventing warp drive".

There's the science behind it, the equations that perhaps allow for warp speeds.

There's the physical phenomena of the "space warp".

There's engineering that creates warp drive as we know it.

There's even the first man to break the lightspeed barrier, akin to Chuck Yeager-- and they show THAT'S Cochrane, too.

So Cochrane is the physicist, engineer, test pilot, inventor, mathematician, everything?
He worked the equations governing subspace, discovered the "space warp", designed a warp engine to enable FTL travel, and then did the piloting, too?
He did the whole damn thing? Or what?

 

[Warped9]

Yeah, it seems to be more complex than you'd think.

"Discover of the space warp" isn't the same as "inventing warp drive".

He worked the equations governing subspace, discovered the "space warp", designed a warp engine to enable FTL travel, and then did the piloting, too?

He did the whole damn thing? Or what?

It does seem a bit much. Yet it's later Trek that retcons all of that while TOS kept it loose.

When I think about it now the words "discoverer of the space warp" strongly suggest that Cochrane either discovered the theoretical means to create an artificial space warp that allows for FTL speeds or he was instrumental in engineering the actual tech that creates an artificial space warp for FTL speeds.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

So Cochrane is the physicist, engineer, test pilot, inventor, mathematician, everything?
He worked the equations governing subspace, discovered the "space warp", designed a warp engine to enable FTL travel, and then did the piloting, too?
He did the whole damn thing? Or what?

Yeah, this struck me as silly in First Contact as well.

The truth is, the more Star Trek has filled in its backstory on screen the less plausible that "future history" has become.

Events which every viewer could imagine having occurred in the way that seems most believable to each of them - based on a particular viewer's knowledge and biases about history, science, human nature, etc - wind up being dramatized in very specific ways. There's a lot less room for imagination and interpretation.

The limitations and requirements of dramatizing a story in two hours in a movie, or in an hour or so of television, militate particularly against any truly plausible portrayal of technological and scientific developments.

At what moment did the Internet as we know it come into existence? What single individual invented it (no Al Gore jokes)? What about the electrification of America? The "invention" of the supersonic jet fighter?

Remarkably, every time we see the invention or discovery of any important piece of future tech in Star Trek - warp drive, the transporter, their computer systems - it turns out to be the nearly sole effort of one man, working in effective isolation with an assistant or two. That's primarily because a teleplay or movie is going to be about a few central, dramatic characters, not because anyone has carefully thought out how such advances are developed from seminal discoveries to working systems in the real world.

 

[DWF]

I always thought it was odd that Kirk refered to Cochrane as being from Alpha Centauri. So it's possible that he just discovered the warp and let others built the ship and eventually left Earth for Alpha Centauri before disappearing altogether.

 

[Wingsley]

There was another suggestion upthread, that the "space-warp" that Cochrane discovered may have been another FTL phenomenon. Perhaps a wormhole or transwarp conduit. This mode of travel would fascinate Archer, Kirk and succeeding generations, and might explain how Cochrane got so far out on the frontier. And maybe Cochrane didn't share everything he learned. Instead of showing Earth and her allies how to harness the "space warp", he used it on his own ship to escape into deep space beyond the range of Earth vessels of the 21st and 22nd centuries.

 

[Warped9]

Kirk refers to Cochrane as of Alpha Centauri. That doesn't necessarily mean he originated there. Given the era of the mid to late 21st century it's a stretch to assume that a human colony already existed on Alpha Centauri and that Cochrane was born there. It would mean the colony would have to have existed from easily the late part of the 20th century. That's easily around the time of the DY-100 class ships when we know humans were still solely within the confines of the solar system.

And so it makes more sense that Cochrane was born on Earth and later discovered the mathematics and/or tech to create an artificial space warp allowing FTL travel. His close association with Alpha Centauri may or may not have anything to with his discovering the space warp. He might have gone to Alpha Centauri after a perfected space warp drive was developed and became prominent for some other unspecified reason.

There are two tidbits in "Metamorphosis" that might give us a clue to Cochrane's background. Firstly, as much as he is glad to see other people after his long isolation it's evident that he is extremely curious about the Enterprise's shuttlecraft, which to him would have been a fascinating example of advanced spacecraft technology beyond anything he would have been familiar with. This suggests (as someone else posted earlier upthread) that Cochrane might have more of an engineering and/or aeronautical background rather than science. Later he also states that when faced with his impending death at an advanced age he wanted to die in space. Again this sounds more like something a pilot or astronaut might say.

I'd argue that Cochrane didn't "discover" space warps as a phenomena----that theoretical knowledge could have existed for decades to a century. Cochrane could have been an aeronautical engineer and pilot who discovered a way to exploit the already existing theoretical knowledge. He "discovered" the space warp in terms of developing a practical means in terms of tech and hardware. He discovered a way to build a workable space warp engine or what would later be known more familiarly as warp drive.

 

[brian577]

So Cochrane is the physicist, engineer, test pilot, inventor, mathematician, everything?
He worked the equations governing subspace, discovered the "space warp", designed a warp engine to enable FTL travel, and then did the piloting, too?
He did the whole damn thing? Or what?

He didn't do the whole damn thing. If you actually watched the movie you would recall the Enterprise crew found many dead bodies inside the silo. Cochrane had a whole team of engineers working on the Pheonix.

 

[SchwEnt]

Yes I actually watched the movie. I know he was not a one-man operation.

But my question remains...
Was Cochrane a scientist, an inventor, a theorist, an engineer, a test pilot, a physicist, a discoverer, a mathematician? All of the above?

 

[brian577]

Yes I actually watched the movie. I know he was not a one-man operation.

But my question remains...
Was Cochrane a scientist, an inventor, a theorist, an engineer, a test pilot, a physicist, a discoverer, a mathematician? All of the above?

It's a good question, the test pilot can be explained away easily however. Regardless of his motivations for developing warp drive even he must of been aware of the significance of his achievement. It's only logical to assume that he would want to be the one to pilot it.

 

[DWF]

And so it makes more sense that Cochrane was born on Earth and later discovered the mathematics and/or tech to create an artificial space warp allowing FTL travel. His close association with Alpha Centauri may or may not have anything to with his discovering the space warp. He might have gone to Alpha Centauri after a perfected space warp drive was developed and became prominent for some other unspecified reason.

I agree however he had been missing for 150 years according to Kirk so I don't think he took a slow trip to Alpha Centauri. Kirk told Khan had been asleep for 200 years so 50 years after that Cochrane disappeared, I'd guess he took the first warp driven ship to Alpha Centauri and was among the first colonists there. But there's no backkstory to back that up.

 

[blssdwlf]

Kirk refers to Cochrane as of Alpha Centauri. That doesn't necessarily mean he originated there.

True, although TOS tended to phrase it that way...

KIRK: Bones. He's my first officer and my friend. I disregarded Starfleet orders to bring him here. Another thing, that's T'Pau of Vulcan.

GAV: No! You! How do you vote, Sarek of Vulcan?

KIRK: Genius doesn't work on an assembly line basis. Did Einstein, Kazanga, or Sitar of Vulcan produce new and revolutionary theories on a regular schedule?

COMPUTER: The Drella of Alpha Carinae Five derives nourishment from the emotion of love.

If Earth sleeper ships were not necessary by 2018, then it's possible that a colony was established on Alpha Centauri in the 2030's. Or an Earth exploration ship encountered Alpha Centaurians who just happened to be humans (like practically everyone else in the galaxy ) about the same time they discovered the space warp. In TOS, warp drive might just be the latest thing in FTL, after hyperdrive, ion and impulse.

 

[Ronald Held]

I thought he flew to a planet in the Centauri system and made it his home(until he was old and left to die in space).
I believe there could have been a colony ship that went before Cochrane, but he have no evidence either way.

 

[Alrik]

Perhaps, later in life, Cochrane was part of the group that settled Alpha Centauri. Think of it like this. When we think of Captain John Smith, we think of the Jamestown settlement and him being of the Jamestown settlement. We don't think of him as John Smith of Willoughby, England.

 

[Timo]

...Also, Trek suffers from a serious lack of Alpha Centaurans, or references thereto. If that's supposed to be a species independent of (Earth) humans, it's apparently pretty much limited to Cochrane himself.

"Metamorphosis" already writes itself into a corner of sorts by saying that Cochrane's fame spans 150 years. Also, the vast majority of TOS timeline references suggests a future mere two or at most three centuries beyond the airdates; TOS also typically risks depicting technological or societal advances that come right in the heels of the airdates, such as the 1990s interplanetary travel and supermen and the 2000s interstellar probes. A rapid introduction of Alpha Centauri colonists would not be out of the line for TOS - but neither would be the rapid introduction of interstellar colonies as the result of the early invention of warp drive. Things happened fast in the mid-20th century, so TOS could be justified in depicting them as happening even faster in the 21st.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[A.V.I.A.F.]

"Metamorphosis" already writes itself into a corner of sorts by saying that Cochrane's fame spans 150 years. Also, the vast majority of TOS timeline references suggests a future mere two or at most three centuries beyond the airdates; TOS also typically risks depicting technological or societal advances that come right in the heels of the airdates, such as the 1990s interplanetary travel and supermen and the 2000s interstellar probes. A rapid introduction of Alpha Centauri colonists would not be out of the line for TOS - but neither would be the rapid introduction of interstellar colonies as the result of the early invention of warp drive. Things happened fast in the mid-20th century, so TOS could be justified in depicting them as happening even faster in the 21st.

Timo Saloniemi

True, but sudden and punctuated spikes in the rate of technological advancement is not entirely inconsistent with what has been happening in the real world. The technological advances made during just the last 20-25 years have been astounding!

 

[BK613]

^^
Maybe Cochrane's research was part of a host of tech projects that received massive funding during the Eugenics Wars.

 

[blssdwlf]

...Also, Trek suffers from a serious lack of Alpha Centaurans, or references thereto. If that's supposed to be a species independent of (Earth) humans, it's apparently pretty much limited to Cochrane himself.

Isn't that like saying, I only met one fellow from the UK and met no one else from the UK there must not be anyone else from the UK? But then again, I didn't ask everyone I met if they were from the UK or had heard of the UK... so perhaps there are more people from the UK and I just don't have enough information about it

FWIW, Alpha Centauri is mentioned in DS9:

KIRA: With Betazed in the hands of the Jem'Hadar, the Dominion is in a position to threaten Vulcan, Andor, Tellar, Alpha Centauri.

And what about Balok and the First Federation? Or the cloud miners of Ardana? Or the Argelians who like Alpha Centauri are only mentioned again once in passing in DS9:

ODO: He mentioned something about an Argelian massage facility.

It would seem that DS9 is the only series that tries to reference back to TOS...

 

[T'Girl]

He might have gone to Alpha Centauri after a perfected space warp drive was developed and became prominent for some other unspecified reason.

Cochrane is depicted as a intelligent man, so perhaps it's reasonable that he wouldn't be a space warp "one trick pony."

he had been missing for 150 years according to Kirk so I don't think he took a slow trip to Alpha Centauri. Kirk told Khan had been asleep for 200 years so 50 years after that Cochrane disappeared, I'd guess he took the first warp driven ship to Alpha Centauri and was among the first colonists there.

Kirk's "two centuries" estimate, likely wasn't a attempt to be completely accurate with Khan, Kirk was providing a general (somewhat vague) figure. Spock in the same position might have told Khan two hundred and seventy years.

If Metamorphosis were set three centuries after the air date, and Cochrane disappeared around the year 2117, that would have been over half a century after his first warp flight, plenty over time for him to piss around on Earth for a decade, travel to Alpha Centauri (to escape his adoring public) and make addition break through discoveries there, maybe travel to a new colony even farther from Earth, and at the ripe old age of one hundred and ten years (James Cromwell was 56 in the movie), chooses to travel even farther into space to die. At which point the Companion takes him to that planetoid.

Oh, and at some point records a dedication for the warp five research complex too.

 

[Timo]

...Just a few years after his disappearance, it seems; it was supposedly exactly 32 years before "Broken Bow", which took place in 2151 (and was said to be roughly 90 years after Cochrane's first flight, but we got more exact dates from other sources).

So either he was at Earth in 2119, or he faked it through media magic. And thus he probably really disappeared in 2119 or 2120 rather than exactly 150 years before "Metamorphosis" - and possibly did so by using Earth as the starting point.

Of course, we still argue about the exact dating of "Metamorphosis". If its stardate of 3219 indicates the third year of a five-year sortie that ended in 2270, then we're talking about 2268 rather than 2267, say.

Timo Saloniemi