Houston, we have a problem

"Houston, we have a problem" is a popular but erroneous quotation from the radio communications between the Apollo 13 astronaut John ("Jack") Swigert and the NASA Mission Control Center ("Houston") during the Apollo 13 spaceflight in 1970,[2] as the astronauts communicated their discovery of the explosion that crippled their spacecraft.

This article is about the misquote itself. For the docufiction film of 2016, see Houston, We Have a Problem! (film). For the television film of 1974, see Houston, We've Got a Problem.
Houston, we have a problem
Origin/etymologyApollo 13 (mission)
Original form"Okay, Houston...we've had a problem here"[1]
Coined byJack Swigert

The words actually spoken, initially by Jack Swigert, were "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here". After being prompted to repeat the transmission by CAPCOM Jack R. Lousma, Jim Lovell responded, "Ah, Houston, we've had a problem."[1]

Since then, the erroneous phrase "Houston, we have a problem" has become popular,[3] being used to account, informally, the emergence of an unforeseen problem,[4] often with a sense of ironic understatement.

The message

The Apollo 13 Flight Journal has the following dialogue listed between the astronauts and Mission Control:[1]

055:55:19 Swigert: Okay, Houston...

055:55:19 Lovell: ...Houston...

055:55:20 Swigert: ...we've had a problem here.

055:55:28 Lousma: This is Houston. Say again, please.

055:55:35 Lovell: Ah, Houston, we've had a problem. We've had a Main B Bus Undervolt.

In Chapter 13 of Apollo Expeditions to the Moon (1975), Jim Lovell recalls the event: "Jack Swigert saw a warning light that accompanied the bang, and said, 'Houston, we've had a problem here.' I came on and told the ground that it was a main B bus undervolt. The time was 21:08 hours on April 13."[5]

In media

In the 1995 film Apollo 13, the actual quote was shortened to "Houston, we have a problem". Screenwriter William Broyles Jr. made the change, stating that the verb tense actually used "wasn't as dramatic". Broyles and American University linguist Naomi S. Baron said the actual line spoken would not work well in a suspense movie.[6] The movie quote ranked #50 on AFI's 100 Greatest Movie Quotes in June 2005.[7]

References
  1. "Day 3, part 2: 'Houston, we've had a problem'". Apollo 13 Flight Journal. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  2. "Houston, We've Had a Problem". Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  3. "¿Por qué la frase: Houston, tenemos un problema?" [Why the phrase: Houston, we have a problem?]. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  4. ""Houston, tenemos un problema" – Jack Swigert" ["Houston, we have a problem" – Jack Swigert] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  5. James A. Lovell. "Apollo Expeditions to the Moon: Chapter 13". Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  6. Rosenwald, Michael S. (April 13, 2017). "'Houston, we have a problem': The amazing history of the iconic Apollo 13 misquote". Washington Post. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  7. "100 Greatest Quotes in Movies". American Film Institute. Retrieved January 22, 2020.

Bibliography
  • Lovell, Jim; Kluger, Jeffrey (1994). Lost Moon. ISBN 0395670292.
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