Korolev also spent almost six years in a gulag in the 30s/40s after being denounced in what likely was likely some dude's play to replace him. He had a bitter r

Korolev also spent almost six years in a gulag in the 30s/40s after being denounced in what likely was likely some dude's play to replace him. He had a bitter rivalry and lots of differences in opinion with his engine designer/supplier, Valentin Glushko (who was arrested for the same made-up offense, but got to continue working on aircraft projects), whom he also held responsible for him nearly dying in the gulag. He ended up actually dying in the middle of N1 development as a late consequence of the catastrophic conditions during his imprisonment. It really sounds absurd when put like that. And it makes me wonder what the Soviet space programme could have looked like if Korolev hadn't been imprisoned in Stalin's Great Purge.