Think of it. You’d be the first human to talk to these people. Do you really want someone else to do it?
STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE 1.01

I’m reading an ion storm on that trajectory, sir. Should I go around it?
We can’t be afraid of the wind, Ensign. Take us to warp four.

Star Trek: Enterprise Episodes ➤ 1.01 & 1.02: The Broken Bow Pt. 1 & 2

I hope nobody is in a big hurry to get home. Starfleet seems to think that we’re ready to begin our mission.

Enterprise’s weaponry from “Broken Bow.” Torpedoes weren’t properly calibrated and until the next episode and the phase cannons weren’t installed until “Silent Enemy” (nearly a dozen episodes later) which brings up the question what did they fire?

Memory Alpha offers an answer: Prior to phase cannons, Starfleet and civilian ships were fitted with plasma cannons (as seen on J and Y-class freighters). The script itself refers to “launch turrets.”

Pilot episodes will always have things that will be ignored or changed by the rest of the series but this does seem to indicate that despite assurances that Enterprise was ready to launch, Starfleet’s brand new NX-Class was sent out with outdated weapons, to be replaced with untested ones.

20 years ago this day we watched Malcolm Reed experience a butterfly-eating sexydance.