La Oruga left Earth's orbit at some point in the 22nd century.

To denote the landmark occasion, there was a calendar reform leading to the launch year being called 0 AL (After Launch). Additional calendar changes include adapting the calendar to have even numbers of days per month, based on the year length of Mariposa, and making the day cycle match that of Mariposa.

In the year 38 AL, sensors on La Oruga detected signs of intelligent life on Mariposa. The Directorate did its best to suppress this knowledge, which was helped by the scientists who discovered it being extremely pro-Directorate.