However, the landing was, in actuality, just the latest step on a path that got its start in the earliest days of the space age.

In the 1950 science fiction film Destination Moon, a quartet of space explorers land their entire rocket on the lunar surface before beginning their adventure across the dusty plains of our nearest celestial neighbor. While a work of fiction, NASA itself was considering such a feat during its race to the Moon with the Soviet Union.

NASA's Nova rocket compared to the Saturn V booster that was used to send crews to the Moon during the late 60s and early 70s. Image Credit: NASA / MSFC

During the pivotal period around May of 1961, then-administrator of the space agency, James Webb, believed that the most "natural" way to land on the Moon would be what was called "direct descent." In essence, a large portion of the rocket would conduct a landing on the surface of the Moon. At the time, a proposed vehicle, called Nova, would have carried out the mission.