Houston, we have a problem

This article is about the phrase. For the 1974 television film, see Houston, We've Got a Problem. For the 2016 docufiction film, see Houston, We Have a Problem! (film).

"Houston, we have a problem"
Origin/etymologyApollo 13 (mission)
Original form"Okay, Houston ... we've had a problem here"[1]
Coined byJack Swigert (April 14, 1970)
Houston, we've had a problem.
Swigert and Lovell reporting the incident on April 13, 1970 (2:59)
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"Houston, we have a problem" is popularly misquoted as a phrase spoken during Apollo 13, a NASA mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. After an explosion occurred on board the spacecraft en route to the Moon at 55:54:53 (03:07 UTC on April 14, 1970),[1] Jack Swigert, the command module pilot, reported to Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas: "Okay, Houston ... we've had a problem here."[2] After being prompted to repeat his words by Jack R. Lousma, the capsule communicator at Mission Control, Jim Lovell, the mission commander, responded: "Ah, Houston, we've had a problem."[1]

The 1995 film Apollo 13 used the slight misquotation "Houston, we have a problem", which had become the popularly expected phrase, in its dramatization of the mission.[1] The phrase has been informally used to describe the emergence of an unforeseen problem, often with a sense of ironic understatement.[3][4]

  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference a13fj was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cortright, Edgar M., ed. (1975). Houston, We've Had a Problem. NASA. hdl:2060/19760005868. LCCN 75600071. SP-350. Archived from the original on March 14, 2024. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  3. ^ "¿Por qué la frase: Houston, tenemos un problema?" [Why the phrase: Houston, we have a problem?]. Archived from the original on December 6, 2023. 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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)