▁to ▁go ▁to ▁the ▁Moon ▁or ▁not ?" ▁the ▁Lang ley ▁engineer ▁asked . ▁" Why ▁is ▁Nova , ▁with ▁its ▁p onder ous ▁size ▁simply ▁just ▁accepted , ▁and ▁why ▁is ▁a ▁much ▁less ▁grand io se ▁scheme ▁involving ▁rende z vous ▁o stra ci zed ▁or ▁put ▁on ▁the ▁def ensive ? ▁I ▁fully ▁realize ▁that ▁contact ing ▁you ▁in ▁this ▁manner ▁is ▁somewhat ▁un orth odox ," ▁Hou bol t ▁admitted , ▁" but ▁the ▁issues ▁at ▁st ake ▁are ▁cru cial ▁enough ▁to ▁us ▁all ▁that ▁an ▁unusual ▁course ▁is ▁war r anted ." ▁ ▁It ▁took ▁two ▁weeks ▁for ▁Se am ans ▁to ▁reply ▁to ▁Hou bol t ' s ▁letter . ▁The ▁associate ▁administrator ▁agreed ▁that ▁" it ▁would ▁be ▁extremely ▁harm ful ▁to ▁our ▁organization ▁and ▁to ▁the ▁country ▁if ▁our ▁qualified ▁staff ▁were ▁und uly ▁limited ▁by ▁restrict ive ▁gu idel ines ." ▁He ▁assured ▁Hou bol t ▁that ▁NASA ▁would ▁in ▁the ▁future ▁be ▁pay ing ▁more ▁attention ▁to ▁L OR ▁than ▁it ▁had ▁up ▁to ▁this ▁time . ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁following ▁months , ▁NASA ▁did ▁just ▁that , ▁and ▁to ▁the ▁surprise ▁of ▁many ▁both ▁inside ▁and ▁outside ▁the ▁ag ency , ▁the ▁dark ▁horse ▁candidate , ▁L OR , ▁quickly ▁became ▁the ▁front ▁runner . ▁Several ▁factors ▁decided ▁the ▁issue ▁in ▁its ▁favor . ▁First , ▁there ▁was ▁growing ▁dis en chant ment ▁with ▁the ▁idea ▁of ▁direct ▁as cent ▁due ▁to ▁the ▁time ▁and ▁money ▁it ▁was ▁going ▁to ▁take