The pilot of that flight (well, the landing portion, Boeing apparently supplied pilot and copilot for the take-off), Carlos Dárdano, just retired earlier this year:

<https://www.aviacionline.com/2023/09/mission-accomplished-ca...>

They took off from an adjacent prepared road that used to be a runway.

> Following an on-site engine replacement, the jetliner took off from Saturn

> Boulevard, a road which had previously been an aircraft runway at Michoud.

> The aircraft was subsequently repaired and returned to service until it finally

> retired in 2016.

From the linked Wikipedia page, which explains why the takeoff wasn't as wild as it first seemed.