It is the love of the mission. The knowledge that you are advancing humanity in this concrete unique way, and that due to circumstance, if you quit it has a tan

It is the love of the mission. The knowledge that you are advancing humanity in this concrete unique way, and that due to circumstance, if you quit it has a tangible increase in the chance of failure for this mission. It is how places like the NSA and other organizations within the government can retain such talented people. It is why PhD scientists toil in their field for much less than they could make in the public sector. It is why people choose to work at a lifestyle company making less than their counterparts at tech giants. A love of the mission/work and or a belief in the organization and its overall goals. See: Daniel Pink and the whole autonomy, mastery, and purpose idea. This mission checks those three boxes quite strongly, likely captivating the engineers and folks on the mission :)