Bart Sibrel is one of the most prominent moon landing theorists. He recently made bold claims that tech billionaire Elon Musk has inadvertently proven that the Apollo moon landings were fabricated.
During an appearance on the Danny Jones podcast, Sibrel argued that Musk’s statements about SpaceX’s Starship fuel requirements somehow validate decades-old theories.
Sibrel’s primary evidence centers on Musk’s explanation that the SpaceX Starship would require eight refueling missions in low Earth orbit before attempting a lunar journey. According to Sibrel, this requirement proves that the Saturn V rocket couldn’t have possibly completed the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 70s without similar refueling stops.
“First he said it’s a historical and technological anomaly, meaning out of place according to logic, logical progression of technology,” Sibrel claimed during the podcast. “And then he said with a taller rocket than the Saturn 5, he’s going to take at least minimum eight fuel trips to go to the moon.”
However, critics of Sibrel’s interpretation point out fundamental flaws in his reasoning. The SpaceX Starship represents an entirely different technological approach compared to the Apollo-era Saturn V. While the Saturn V was a single-use rocket designed specifically for lunar missions with all necessary fuel loaded at launch, Starship is designed as a reusable spacecraft with different operational parameters and mission requirements.
The refueling requirement for Starship stems from its reusable design philosophy and the specific payload configurations for NASA’s Artemis program, not from any inherent impossibility of reaching the moon. The Saturn V rocket successfully demonstrated its capability across six lunar missions between 1969 and 1972, carrying sufficient fuel for the entire journey without orbital refueling.
Sibrel also referenced historical quotes from Wernher von Braun, the chief architect of the Saturn V, suggesting that early 1950s conceptual discussions about multi-stage rocket requirements somehow invalidate the later successful Apollo missions. These references ignore the significant technological advances that occurred between von Braun’s early theoretical work and the actual development of the Saturn V system in the 1960s.
The theorist further cited comments from NASA engineer Don Pettit about “destroying” moon landing technology. He interpreted this as evidence of a cover-up rather than the more straightforward explanation that production facilities were dismantled and archived after the program concluded due to budget constraints.
Despite Sibrel’s claims, the scientific and engineering communities maintain that Musk’s comments about Starship logistics have no bearing on the historical reality of the Apollo missions, which remain one of humanity’s greatest technological achievements.