//------------------------------//
// Some History info and Background 
// Story: LC-4: A Space Rescue 
// by Kitsune_Kenshi 
//------------------------------//

24 MOONS AGO

May 18, 1174
Sparkle Space Center
030 Launch Site 
17:27 PM


"This is LC-4 launch control, t-minus 3 minutes and 30 seconds and counting of our countdown for the launch of Lunar Celestial 4."

"Launch vehicle test conductor Norch Quickwing just reported to the test supervisor Orcus Clickerbug, that they're clear for launch. Indicating they're ready to go onto automatic launch sequence."

It's an honor, to launch the last of the Lunar Celestial space laboratories at the space center named by Former Princess Twilight Sparkle, who's both the former ruler of Equestria and the former head administrator of EASA. Ever since the first launch of Spotnik 1 maremade satellite by the PSSR cosmos space program in 1157, which triggered a 12 moons long space race between Equestria and PSSR. Although the Equestrian space program EASA managed to win the race by putting the first pony on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1169, it doesn't really mark the end of this aerospace engineering competition. 

PSSR, realizing that they had already suffered a critical defeat in the race towards the moon, focused on two objectives that they're planning to suppress Equestria once again; Mission to Duna (ksp, yes why not) and creating a shelter in space that can last weeks for Cosmonauts to stay. Finally, on April 18, 1171, the PSSR Space Program launched the world's first space station, 'Cosyut 1. 

EASA was then rushed by the National Security Agency at three in the morning after Cosyut 1's launch, and as the result, the Lunar Celestial Project was born. However, this project suffered when the first rushed launch of LC-1 on April 3rd failed as the stage shut down prematurely due to the oxygen supply line burning through during second-stage ignition. Luckily, they still have a backup; LC-2 was launched a week after LC-1's failure, and it had placed Equestria as the second country in the world to have its own space station in orbit. The first crew arrived two weeks later and spend about 20 days in the station before departure. 

Consider it lucky for LC-2 to remain operational until June 17, when three out of six of the solar arrays suffered a motor freeze due to a malfunctioned RCS booster which was unable to turn the station towards the direction of the sun. The entire station was out of power for 22 hours before the ground crews are finally able to resent links to the malfunctioned RCS booster to get the station back to its correct course. Unfortunately, the freeze remained for too long, permanently damaging the station's primary batteries. Three days later, it was finally decided to remote-control deorbit of the LC-2 above the Central Equestrian Sea. The shortage of time of its service is expected since its launch, the fact that LC-2 was rushed, and that many systems onboard still remained single-checked. 

Learning from its mistake, EASA maintained patience with its upcoming LC projects. The engineers made a daring decision by taking apart the modules of LC-3 and attaching them to the half-completed LC-4; the scientific research module was remastered, three more antennas were added, and a special module made up of six-sided sealed heat-proofed windows and one main opening sealing to view their beautiful planet. This time, EASA even installed a heat generator to its power module to prevent the same problem occurred to LC-2's solar arrays. 

Everything was ready on May 18, 1174.

"T-minus 30 seconds, the pressurization of all tanks is taking place now as the total amount of nine hundred and seventeen thousand gallons of liquid fuel are ready to burn."

"10, 9. 8, ignition sequence has started, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3," The five F-1 engines which can produce up to 7.5 million pounds of lift-off thrust unleashed its raging roar, as flames and smoke burst out from the side of the launch pad. The tower restrictions were lifted one by one as the heavy rocket slowly rises, '2,1, and lift-off! Lift-off of the Lunar Celestial 4 space laboratory core module, and the clock is runnin'!" 

As the bright trail of flames disappears into the deep blue skies above, the marking of the final Lunar Celestial project had begun.

Three weeks later, after two crew transfers, the addition of the EVA module, viewing the module, and resupplying to the core module in LEO, LC-4 had its final scientific research/electricity power module installed in front of the singular docking port mounted at the head of the station. 

Lunar Celestial 4 was a huge success in Equestrian Space projects, not only proving that creatures can survive longer in space and that many experiments that could relate to future mared planetary missions that might take months or years to complete in space. Time flies by, 24 years after its launch, LC-4 is getting onto age, two of its solar arrays are damaged from the extreme heat and coolness, one of the solar array motors is dead, the electronic devices onboard are out of date, and the jet propellant onboard is running low. Plus EASA just announced the starting of an international space station project that they'd be taking part in the fall of 1198; although many updates were brought on board by each crew transfer, this still doesn't change the fact of its upcoming retirement. 




Thus, the last crew transfer onboard LC-4 was scheduled, after the last thirty days onboard, the crews would manually enable the self-deorbit system before departure...