“Um, like, you know, success means you’re a Hero of the Soviet Union. Failure? You’re probably going to the gulag. So A+ players, maximum motivation. And still the N1 failed. It never reached orbit. So you know, so that’s the team, for one, you really have to have a tremendous amount of respect for the N1 team and they did not succeed.”
“There were so many super smart people in that program, and they really knew what they’re doing with rockets, and with maximum motivation they did not succeed. So, it’s just worth bearing [in mind] that the N1 is the closest to Starship of any rocket that’s flown — and a Starship is actually a bit more risky in some ways…”