We see how the Phoenix was launched, and that its flight was successful - however it doesn't look like it would survive re-entry (no heat shield etc and we have no mention of deflector shields being part of its design) so how was the flight to end? Eject the forward section and land it like an Apollo capsule?
Is there anything in canon or the expanded universe which tells us how Cochran got it back on the ground?
Edit: so it looks like there are heat tiles on the side of the forward cockpit, on the opposite side from the crew windows - however, they dont extend all the way done the fuselage so that might indicate that just the crew cabin is returned to earth.
However, that would mean that the guts of the Phoenix would be left in orbit - not a great situation if you want a continued program, especially considering the dialog suggests a lot of the basic structural material was very hard to get hold of.
Would love some corroboration on this.
Answer
I'm struggling to find a fully canon source but the general gist is that the front section separates from the remainder of the rocket and becomes a landing module.
John Eaves, Concept Illustrator for the First Contact film has described the front section as a "capsule".
The image above tallies nicely with the on-screen image seen in the film.
Unfortunately, the screenplay then subverts this by having Picard run his hands over the lower fuselage of the Phoenix (the bit that should have been abandoned) and stating that he remembers the ship from seeing it in the Smithsonian.
DATA: It is an historical irony that Doctor Cochrane would use an instrument of mass-destruction to inaugurate an era of peace.
(Picard feels the Titan V rocket)
PICARD: It's a boyhood fantasy, Data. I must have seen this ship hundreds of times in the Smithsonian, but I was never able to touch it.
However, assuming the ship's body was jettisoned in space it would have been a simple matter to ask our new Vulcan friends to recover it for us.
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