Back in 1962, NASA held a massive internal debate regarding how to reach the...

https://victor-wiki.win/index.php/The_Engineering_Reality:_How_Mission_Planners_Compare_Propulsion_Types_Fairly

Back in 1962, NASA held a massive internal debate regarding how to reach the moon. Should they build one giant, expensive rocket, or master the tricky art of docking in lunar orbit? Even 18 Nobel laureates weighed in with conflicting opinions