> Von Braun admits we could only get to the moon from a space station to refuel <
Well, back in 1895 the great physicist Lord Kelvin said that there would never be airplanes. Forget about it.
Moral of the story: Even great scientists are often wrong.
Von Braun just happened to be the Father of US manned launches. This is not some guy who existed in 1895. He may have been wrong but he was RIGHT THERE, more vibrant and alive than Einstein at the time. He was in his prime in ‘69.
Sure, if we were taking the whole rocket to the moon and back. But we didn't.
We took only as much propulsion and craft as we would need. And jettisoned what we didn't need.
It was a genius solution to a huge problem.