When NASA formed in 1958, they also started planning for a lunar landing. Like the Air Force, their Project Apollo initially favoured a direct ascent profile, requiring a large booster to launch the spacecraft into LEO. Prior to NASA taking over Wernher von Braun's Saturn work for the US Army, they had no large rocket designs of their own, and started a study program known as Nova to study a range of options. Initially, the payload requirements were fairly limited, and the favoured Nova designs used a first stage with four F-1 engines and a payload of about . These designs were presented to President Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 27, 1959.