“Unlocking the Secrets of the Moon: The Ingenious Strategies That Made NASA’s Historic Landing Possible”
He then followed this with a thorough mathematical breakdown demonstrating the inherent advantages of LOR, before concluding that:
“Naturally, in discussing matters of the type touched upon herein, one cannot make comments without having them smack somewhat against NOVA. I want to assure you, however, I’m not trying to say NOVA should not be built, i’m simply trying to establish that our scheme deserves a parallel front-line position. As a matter of fact, because the lunar rendezvous approach is easier, quicker, less costly, requires less development, less new sites and facilities, it would appear more appropriate to say that this is the way to go, and that we will use NOVA as a follow on. Give us the go-ahead, and a C-3, and we will put men on the moon in very short order – and we don’t need any Houston empire to do it.
In closing, Dr. Seamans, let me say that should you desire to discuss the points covered in this letter in more detail, I would welcome the opportunity to come up to Headquarters to discuss them with you.
Respectfully yours,
John C. Houbolt”
Unorthodox and insubordinate as it was, the letter succeeded in getting Seaman’s attention, with the former Administrator stating in 2008 that:
“It was rather strident in the way it was written. My first reaction was, ‘I’d like some way to get that son of a gun off my back.’”
Nonetheless, Seamans was swayed by Houbolt’s arguments, and he replied by promising to put LOR into active consideration. With Seaman’s backing, resistance to Houbolt’s plan soon began to crumble. Further tradeoff analyses revealed the risk of rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit to be much lower than had previously been assumed, while in June 1962, Wernher von Braun, long a staunch advocate of Earth Orbit Rendezvous, unexpectedly reversed course and announced he was now backing LOR. One month later on July 11, NASA Administrator James Webb held a press conference in which he officially announced Lunar Orbit Rendezvous as the chosen mission profile for Project Apollo, stating that it was:
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