Scott Morton’s heart rate spiked at the same time, every time.
Sitting in the flight control seat during SpaceX’s Starship launch tests, Morton wore a heart rate monitor on his wrist and thunderous responsibility on his shoulders. In that chair, he could override systems, take corrective action, and, if necessary, entirely abort the mission. What’s more, every rocket company is perennially just a couple rocket explosions from complete failure. As young as 27, Morton was making point-of-no-return decisions, with the chance to succeed spectacularly—or fail publicly.
