They did it by not trying to land a huge fueled rocket on the Moon (on its tail!) and then have the whole thing take off again. The rocket equation bites you in the ass very quickly once you commit to a 1950's sci-fi style landing with a big silver rocket that you insist on taking home with you.

I don't know what you mean by more'capable' in this context if the system needs 20 times the launches and nonexistent technology (in-orbit refueling) to achieve the same goal.