---
title: "Elon Musk: “It’s My Fault” If Launch Goes Wrong"
description: "\"I'm the chief engineer of the thing,\" SpaceX CEO Elon Musk told CBS during a Tuesday interview. \"Goes wrong, it's my fault.\""
date: "2020-05-27"
modified: "2020-05-27"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-fault-launch-goes-wrong"
categories:
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "Off-World"
  - "Space"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "elon musk"
  - "NASA"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "the digest"
---

# Elon Musk: “It’s My Fault” If Launch Goes Wrong

!["I'm the chief engineer of the thing," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk told CBS during a Tuesday interview. "Goes wrong, it's my fault."](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/elon-musk-fault-launch-goes-wrong.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: SpaceX\</em\>*

## "It's My Fault"

SpaceX could be about to write US history as it attempts to [launch](<https://futurism.com/watch-spacex-crew-dragon-launch-nasa-astronauts>) two NASA astronauts into orbit today, the first time anyone has tried that feat since the retirement of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. It's an exciting moment — but with human lives at stake.

"I'm the chief engineer of the thing," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk [told *CBS*](<https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-launch-elon-musk-nasa-astronauts-praise/>) during a Tuesday interview. "So, I just like to say if it goes right, it's credit to the SpaceX and NASA team."

But if anything "goes wrong, it's my fault," he added. "There's thousands of things that can go wrong and only one thing that can go right."

## Can't Even

But Musk says he's confident in his team. When asked if there was anything surrounding the launch that kept him up at night, he responded with "not a thing."

His coping mechanism: act like the burden of responsibility doesn't exist.

"I really kinda have to kind of mentally block it, because otherwise it would be emotionally impossible to deal with," he said.

## Dream Come True

All things considered, it sounds like Musk is having an incredible day.

"This is the culmination of a dream. This is a dream come true. In fact, it feels surreal," Musk said. "If you asked me when starting SpaceX if this would happen, I'd be like, one percent — 0.1 percent chance."

**READ MORE:** [Elon Musk praises NASA astronauts for their "nerves of steel" ahead of historic SpaceX launch](<https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-launch-elon-musk-nasa-astronauts-praise/>) \[*CBS This Morning*\]

**More on the launch:** *[Mission Control Is Socially Distancing During Today’s SpaceX Launch](<https://futurism.com/mission-control-socially-distancing-spacex-launch>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)