Advocacy Lunar orbit rendezvous

john houbolt explains lunar orbit rendezvous

dr. john houbolt not let advantages of lor ignored. member of lunar mission steering group, houbolt had been studying various technical aspects of space rendezvous since 1959 , convinced, several others @ langley research center, lor not feasible way make moon before decade out, way. had reported findings nasa on various occasions felt internal task forces (to made presentations) following arbitrarily established ground rules. according houbolt, these ground rules constraining nasa s thinking lunar mission—and causing lor ruled out before considered.

in november 1961, houbolt took bold step of skipping proper channels , writing private letter, 9 pages long, directly robert c. seamans, associate administrator. voice in wilderness, houbolt protested lor s exclusion. want go moon or not? langley engineer asked. why nova, ponderous size accepted, , why less grandiose scheme involving rendezvous ostracized or put on defensive? realize contacting in manner unorthodox, houbolt admitted, issues @ stake crucial enough unusual course warranted.

it took 2 weeks seamans reply houbolt s extraordinary letter. associate administrator agreed extremely harmful our organization , country if our qualified staff unduly limited restrictive guidelines. assured houbolt nasa in future paying more attention lor had time.

in following months, nasa did that, , surprise of many both inside , outside agency, dark horse candidate, lor, became front runner. several factors decided issue in favor. first, there growing disenchantment idea of direct ascent due time , money going take develop 50-foot (15 m) diameter nova rocket, compared 33-foot (10 m) diameter saturn v . second, there increasing technical apprehension on how relatively large spacecraft demanded earth-orbit rendezvous able maneuver soft landing on moon. 1 nasa engineer changed mind explained:

the business of eyeballing thing down moon didn t have satisfactory answer. best thing lor allowed build separate vehicle landing.

the first major group break camp in favor of lor robert gilruth s space task group, still located @ langley move houston. second come on von braun team @ marshall space flight center in huntsville, alabama. these 2 powerful groups of converts, along original true believers @ langley, persuaded key officials @ nasa headquarters, notably administrator james webb, had been holding out direct ascent, lor way land on moon 1969. key players inside nasa lined behind concept, webb approved lor in july 1962. decision officially announced @ press conference on july 11, 1962. president kennedy s science adviser, jerome wiesner, remained firmly opposed lor.