The show's real-life production crew (office staff, hair and makeup technicians, grips, sound technicians, etc.) don uniforms and "man the rails" as Voyager's fictional crew.
At the beginning of the episode, the Voyager crew throw a party in the Mess Hall celebrating the 315th anniversary of Zefram Cochrane breaking the Warp Speed barrier, and Earth's first contact with Vulcans. Star Trek: First Contact (1996) established that the Warp Flight and First Contact both took place in 2063, which means this episode takes place in the year 2378.
The song playing on the juke box in the mess hall in the opening scene is an instrumental version of Roy Orbison's "Ooby Dooby" which is played on the juke box in Star Trek: First Contact (1996) by Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell). The Star Trek: First Contact (1996) version had Orbison singing.
This episode was directed by LeVar Burton, who played Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
This is the last episode of the series to be directed by LeVar Burton.