How did Cochrane obtain dilithium for the first warp flight?

Question

In the Star Trek Illustrated Handbook (based on The Official Star Trek Fact Files 1997 - 2002) I read:

Following the model established by Zefram Cochrane, Federation vessels' warp engines accomplish the transition into subspace by using a matter-antimatter reaction to generate a series of warp fields that exert force against one another.

It goes on to state just how this works:

In the simplest terms, the warp core works by burning deuterium to create gases, which are then forced together with antimatter in the form of antihydrogen. The reaction is controlled by dilithium crystals to create a plasma stream that is split in two and routed to the warp nacelles. In the nacelles, the plasma is used to energize the warp field coils, made of verterium cortenide.

From numerous episodes, we learn that naturally occurring dilithium is extremely rare and is mined on only a few planets, such as Coridan, Troyius and Rura Penthe. So I wonder, how did Cochrane obtain dilithium to make the first warp flight? Or, what can we speculate is the most probable alternative mechanism that could still make the first warp drive function, lacking dilithium? By the same token, based on the description given above, I can ask the same question about the crystals verterium and cortenide. I guess the latter materials are somewhat less essential, but they appear also not too readily available, cf. e.g. ST VOY s 2, ep 20.

Of course, I want to exclude the very paradoxical explanation that he obtained the material(s) from the Enterprise in First Contact.

Answer 1

Cochrane didn't need dilithium to use as the power source for his warp experiment. He used a 'nuclear power core' to create the energy required.

The nuclear core in the missile: it was the same fuel his theoretical warp engine required, was it not? Why not beat that damned sword into a plowshare and use the bomb to make an actual ship that he could test?

... [later]

He spoke swiftly, happily, of how the nuclear core contained in an old warhead could be harnessed for something he called a “warp engine,” and he traced in the dirt some mathematical equations to prove it.

_{^{First Contact - Official Novelisation}}

Admittedly the Enterprise may have helped him with some modern/replicated tech to replace the bits were damaged in the Borg's raid, but that doesn't create a bootstrap paradox because Cochrane already had the means to go to warp before they intervened. Their intervention allowed a pre-existing event to take place.

Answer 2

It may be worth noting that Lithium crystals were what was said in dialog in the first episodes of Star Trek "Where No Man has Gone Before" for example. It was later that it was turned into science fiction with fictional Dilithium.

And further one only needs dilithium if you are heating the warp plasma with an antimatter reaction. If the plasma can get up to temperature with a more conventional fuel like fusion - the warp coils do not care. As is often pointed out - TNG era Romulan ships use a microblack hole to heat the plasma. And TOS Romulan ships apparently used impulse to power the warp drive (and they clearly do have warp capability).

So one is forced to conclude that primitive warp coils and primitive warp plasma work at whatever energy and technology was there - which is not established at all in First Contact. TNG era warp plasma and coils have no doubt been optimized for what their technology is capable of powering - so we should not make the hurdle higher than necessary for the ship in First Contact.

Regardless "First Contact" does not make much sense from a design perspective. For example the Warp nacelles don't really need Bussard hydrogen collectors for a 1 minute trip.

Answer 3

After reading various older Star Trek Books including The Final Reflection dilithium is not the fuel source, but a focusing lens. Starships could travel up to Warp 4 without the dilithium crystals. A mining accident confirmed the focusing feature of the crystals on matter/anti-matter process, thus allowing faster Warp speeds up to Warp 7 and beyond.

• The Final Reflection by John M Ford

Answer 4

Dilithium crystals are used to regulate matter/antimatter reactions aboard starships. However, in First Contact, there is no direct evidence that the Phoenix used them... but it DID involve matter-antimatter power generation:

At one point during the writing of First Contact, the writers of the film considered what might power the matter-antimatter reaction chamber aboard the Phoenix, in lieu of dilithium crystals. Co-writer Ronald D. Moore later recalled, "We had talked about it being from something modified from the thermonuclear warhead – that somehow setting off the fission reaction was what kicked it off." (Star Trek Monthly issue 45, p. 46)

_{https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Phoenix#Background_information}

So, it's very likely that dilithium crystals weren't used until a later time (during the 50 years humanity was busy recovering from the Third World War, eradicating poverty, disease, etc. - at least according to Counselor Troi from the First Contact movie).

During the first 50 years, humanity was primarily focused on self-repair and recovery (growing out of its infancy). Evidently, it wasn't focused solely on that, as development of the warp program was proceeding at a regular pace too during that period, but it seemed to have picked up more speed in the next 40 years (eventually leading to the launch of the NX-01), and it's possible that humanity started using dilithium when they broke the warp two barrier, or prior to that.

So, I'd say that whatever test ships humanity used to reach immediately beyond warp one, they realized they would need a substance to help control matter/antimatter reactions for sustained flights (Cochranes' warp flight was fairly brief and it wouldn't necessarily require dilithium crystals... but if you wanted to use a warp drive for sustained exploration, you'd definitely need a better/more efficient way to regulate matter/antimatter reactions).

Answer 5

He didn't use dilithium because he didn't need it. Dilithium isn't a power source. Dilithium is used to regulate a matter/anti-matter reaction. The actual fuel source in Star Trek is the energy created by a matter/anti-matter reaction between deuterium and anti-deuterium. The dilithium regulates that reaction. Zefram Cochrane's warp ship used a nuclear reactor from the warhead of the missile that was repurposed. The power source was nuclear not matter/anti-matter.

Answer 6

If warp drive was possible without dilithium crystals then Starfleet would have never went all in on dilithium warp drive. The fact of the matter is, warp drive requires dilithium in order to produce the warp field by mixing matter and anti matter in a safe manner. The conventional technology of mixing the two in a magnetic confinement resulted in a large explosion hence it was required by Starfleet to use dilithium crystals. The Romulan singluarity drive required a large containment vessel, hence the typcial warbird is three times the size of a Galaxy class starship. The signularity drive containment can fit an entire starship in it! The power produced by the warbird can never exceed that of the Galaxy class. So as to how Cochrane did his warp experiment is still up for debate. How was he able to generate that much plasma to generate a warp field is anyone's guess.