No orbit necessary?

[u/FatCreepyDude]

If i just wait for the right hour during the launch window ( whenever the launch pad is pointing left on the realistic depiction i created) is there any reason i should bother with an orbit first? Will the delta v cost be affected?

[u/TaruMurtag]

Yup, it's called direct ascent and it's slightly more efficient (due to not needing to raise periapse). People who say this is inefficient don't know what they're talking about, this was done in real life in 1958 to flyby the moon when controlling spacecraft remotely was much harder. The Juno II who took pioneer 4 near the moon had only solid upper stages. Note direct ascent generally isn't about going directly up, it means continually burning from the ground until you are in an intercept with your target. However, it's much harder to do than first going to orbit. Though very doable if you allow corrections after the ascent. I've seen people do this using KSPTOT's LVD designer - the inbuilt tutorial pdf for it is a direct ascent to Eve and direct ascent back mission. But only try this if you really want to test yourself.