It's as foolish to make assumptions about Elon's choice from the single
example of the N-1 as it is about reusability from the single example of
the Shuttle.
On 2016-09-28 07:34, John Dom wrote:
http://spacenews.com/spacex-unveils-mars-mission-plans/
what/who convinced Elon that to go for 42 engines in stage 1 makes
sense? Reusable en plus! Could it be developing F1 size motors is
beyond the SpaceX budget or capability?
Will SpaceX go for Korolev's N-1 rocket, the disaster design? N-1 had
"only" 30 engines in stage 1, not reusable.
Instead of going for 40 H-1 (the Saturn 1B engine) the number required
for the 35000 kN Apollo thrust, NASA chose the hard way of developing
F-1 of which only 5 sufficed in the first stage.
jd
