Direct ascent was a proposed method for a mission to the Moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

. In the United States, direct ascent proposed using the enormous Nova rocket

Nova rocket

Nova was a series of proposed rocket designs, originally as NASA's first large launchers for missions similar to the production-level Saturn V, and later as larger follow-ons to the Saturn V intended for missions to Mars. The two series of designs were essentially separate, but shared their name...

 to launch a spacecraft directly to the Moon, where it would land tail-first and then launch off the Moon back to Earth. The other options that NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 considered for the mission to the moon were Lunar Orbit Rendezvous

Lunar orbit rendezvous

Lunar orbit rendezvous is a key concept for human landing on the Moon and returning to Earth.In a LOR mission a main spacecraft and a smaller lunar module travel together into lunar orbit. The lunar module then independently descends to the lunar surface. After completion of the mission there, a...

 and Earth Orbit Rendezvous

Earth orbit rendezvous

Earth orbit rendezvous is a type of space rendezvous and a spaceflight methodology most notable for enabling round trip human missions to the moon...

.

The Soviets also considered several direct ascent-strategies, though in the end they settled on an approach similar to NASA's: two men in a Soyuz spacecraft

Soyuz spacecraft

Soyuz , Union) is a series of spacecraft initially designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau in the 1960s, and still in service today...

 capsule and a one-man lander. The failure of the Soviets' N1 Rocket

N1 rocket

N-1 was a heavy lift rocket intended to deliver payloads beyond low Earth orbit, acting as the Soviet counterpart to the NASA Saturn V rocket. This heavy lift booster had the capability of lifting very heavy loads into orbit, designed with manned extra-orbital travel in mind...

 delayed their lunar program substantially, however, and they were nowhere close when Apollo 11

Apollo 11

In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...

 lifted off and made the first lunar landing.

Science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 movies such as Destination Moon

Destination Moon (film)

Destination Moon is an American science fiction feature film produced by George Pal, who later produced When Worlds Collide, The War of the Worlds, and The Time Machine. Pal commissioned the script by James O'Hanlon and Rip Van Ronkel...

had frequently depicted direct ascent missions. In real life, however, it was discarded due to the near impossibility of landing a rocket the size of the Atlas tail-first on the Moon.

See also

• Lunex Project
  Lunex Project
  The Lunex Project was a US Air Force 1958 plan for a manned lunar landing prior to the Apollo Program. The final lunar expedition plan in 1961 was for a 21-airman underground Air Force base on the Moon by 1968 at a total cost of $ 7.5 billion....
  
  
• Project Apollo
  Project Apollo
  The Apollo program was the spaceflight effort carried out by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration , that landed the first humans on Earth's Moon. Conceived during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Apollo began in earnest after President John F...