Lunar Orbit Rendezvous
The concept of Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) was studied at Langley Research Center as early as 1960. John Houbolt's memorandum advocating LOR for lunar missions in November 1961 to Robert Seamans outlined the usage of the Saturn C-3 launch vehicle, and avoiding complex large boosters and lunar landers.
After six months of further discussion NASA, in the summer of 1962, selected the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) proposal from Langley Research Center for the Apollo program. By the end of 1962, the Saturn C-3 design was deemed not necessary for Apollo program requirements as larger boosters (Saturn C-4, Saturn C-5) were then proposed, hence further work on the Saturn C-3 was cancelled.
Read more about this topic: Saturn C-3
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