Houston, we have a problem

"Houston, we have a problem" is a popular but erroneous quote from the radio communications between the Apollo 13 astronaut John ("Jack") Swigert and the NASA Mission Control Center ("Houston") during the Apollo 13 spaceflight,^[1] as the astronauts communicated their discovery of the explosion that crippled their spacecraft. The erroneous wording was popularized by the 1995 film Apollo 13, a dramatization of the Apollo 13 mission, in which actor Tom Hanks, portraying Mission Commander Jim Lovell, uses that wording, which became one of the film's clichéd taglines.

The words actually spoken, initially by Jack Swigert, were "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here" (emphasis added). After being prompted to repeat the transmission by CAPCOM Jack R. Lousma, Lovell responded, "Uh, Houston, we've had a problem."

	Houston, we've had a problem. Swigert and Lovell reporting the incident on April 13, 1970 [2:59]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Since then, the phrase has become popular,^[2] being used to account, informally, the emergence of an unforeseen problem.^[3]

The message

The dialogue occurred between the base and the astronaut was as follows:^[4]

Lousma: "Thirteen, we've got more item for you when you get a chance."
Lousma: "We'd like you, eehh, to stir up your cryo tanks."
Lousma: "In addition, I have shaft and trunnion."
Swigert: "Okay."
Lousma: "...for looking common benefit, if you need it." Swigert: "Okay. Stand by."
--- (Sparks) ---
Swigert: "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here."
Lousma: "This is Houston. Say again, please."
Lovell: "Uh, Houston, we've had a problem."
Lovell: "We've had a MAIN B BUS UNDERVOLT."
Lousma: "Roger, MAIN B UNDERVOLT."
Lousma: "Okay, stand by, Thirteen, we're looking at it."

References

Bibliography

External links

• "¿Cuándo se pronunció la famosa frase "Houston, tenemos un problema"?" [When uttered the famous phrase "Houston, we have a problem"?] (in Spanish).
• "Spacelog Apollo 13".