http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Flight_(Star_Trek:_Enterprise)
First Flight (Star Trek: Enterprise)
Original air date May 14, 2003
"First Flight" is the title of a Star Trek: Enterprise television episode from season two.
During the mission, Archer tells T'Pol about Robinson, leading to a series of flashbacks to the earliest days of the NX program, in which Robinson and Archer were colleagues and rivals for the first command of a Warp 5 starship. Archer relates how he befriended his future chief engineer Charles Tucker III and how early experiments with warp power nearly ended the NX program a decade before the launch of Enterprise.
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/First_Flight_(episode)
MEMORY ALPHA
First Flight (episode)
First aired: 14 May 2003
When he is told of the death of an old rival, Archer reflects on his days in the NX test program.
Previous episode:
"Regeneration"
Next episode:
"Bounty"
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/A.G._Robinson
MEMORY ALPHA
A.G. Robinson
A.G. Robinson was a 22nd century Starfleet officer who was a pilot in the NX program with the rank of Commander. In this capacity, he became the first Human to break the Warp 2 barrier during an historic spaceflight in 2143.
Robinson was a close friend of fellow pilot, Commander Jonathan Archer, despite the fierce competition between the two to become the first to test the NX-Alpha, one of two vessels designed to break the warp 2 barrier. Although Archer had worked exceptionally hard to attain the privilege of piloting that historic test flight, then-Commodore Maxwell Forrest gave the assignment to Robinson. Robinson would later tell Archer his belief that the reason Archer was not chosen for the assignment was because Archer had "tried too hard" to be the first one to make the flight.
During the test flight, as the ship passed warp 2, a malfunction was detected aboard the NX-Alpha and Robinson was ordered by Forrest to abort. Robinson refused the order, believing he could get the craft to go faster. The ship's warp field ultimately collapsed, destroying the craft just as it reached warp 2.2. However, Robinson was able to eject his escape pod in time, becoming the first person to deploy an escape pod while at warp, a feat which landed him in the history books along with being the first human to achieve warp 2.
After being promoted to captain, Robinson was a candidate to command the first Warp 5 ship, Enterprise NX-01, though he was passed up in favor of Archer six months prior to the ship's launch. Robinson expected to be given command of the next NX-class ship, Columbia; sadly, however, he never had the chance.
In March of 2153, Robinson was killed while climbing Mount McKinley on Earth.
