First Flight (Star Trek: Enterprise)  "First Flight" is the fiftieth episode of the American science fiction television series "", the twenty-fourth episode of the . It first aired on May 14, 2003 on UPN. It was written by John Shiban and Chris Black, and was directed by "" actor LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge). Set in the 22nd century, the series follows the adventures of the first Starfleet starship "Enterprise", registration NX-01. In this episode, after Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) is informed of the death of his former colleague, A.G. Robinson (Keith Carradine), he relates the story of breaking the warp 2.5 barrier to T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) while investigating a dark matter nebula. The episode was inspired by the story of the first American astronauts as seen in the film "The Right Stuff". Several sets were specifically built for this episode, and a reference to the designer of the "Enterprise" from the original "" series is included in the story. Three crew-members from the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS "Enterprise" (CVN-65) appeared in this episode, and handed over a flag from the ship to the cast and crew. Critical reception to this episode was mostly positive, with praise directed at Scott Bakula. However, the episode received the second-lowest number of viewers received by "Enterprise" at that point, which was blamed on it being aired opposite the series finale of "Dawson's Creek". As "Enterprise" is about to investigate a dark matter cloud, Captain Archer is informed by Admiral Forrest that his former Starfleet colleague, Captain Robinson, has died in a rock climbing accident. Archer, seeking solitude, desires to travel into the nebula in a shuttlepod armed with spatial charges to excite the dark matter. Sub-Commander T'Pol, noting that captains are prohibited from traveling off-ship unaccompanied, joins him and while underway, she coaxes him into relating the story of the Warp 5 program on Earth. In a series of flashbacks, Commander Archer meets with Commodore Forest, and is informed that although he excelled in simulations, his colleague Commander Robinson has been awarded the test ship, the "NX Alpha". Disappointed, Archer goes to the 602 Club, a local bar, bumping into Robinson there. Later, Robinson takes the scheduled flight aboard the "NX Alpha", breaking the warp 2.0 barrier.