How SpaceX's new Starship launch system compares to NASA's towering moon rockets
It is bigger.
The energy required to launch three people out to the moon, land two of them on its surface, and bring everyone back to Earth is a monstrous amount. To get that job done during its Apollo program, NASA created the Saturn V rocket.
Each Saturn V rocket stood about 363 feet (111 meters) tall and 33 feet (10 meters) wide. The scale is hard to fathom, but it's akin to filling up a small skyscraper with enough liquid fuel and oxidizer to level a small town.
The giant machine powered the world's first crewed moon-landing mission — the Apollo 11 astronauts stepped onto the moon on July 20, 1969. Five more moon landings followed, though no one has returned in decades.
Now, 50 years later, private interests have set their sights on sending people back to the moon. Blue Origin, founded by the billionaire Jeff Bezos, is pressing for a lunar return, as is SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk.