"Houston, we have a problem" (1970)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

I don't know what Fred has on the exact wording, and who said it. I added  it 
to my Texas section.
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Entry from August 06, 2006 
“Houston, we have a problem”
 
"Houston, we have a problem” was the alleged statement made from Apollo 13 to 
 Houston space command in April 1970. The actual statement differs slightly 
from  that. Apollo 13 successfully returned to earth, despite the problem. The 
film  Apollo 13 (1995) by director Ron Howard starred Tom Hanks. 

The  phrase is still used if there’s any problem in the city of Houston, or 
with its  sports teams. 


_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13_ 
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php?URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13)  
Apollo 13  was the third American manned lunar landing mission, part of the 
Apollo program.  Two days after launch, the Apollo Spacecraft was crippled by 
an explosion,  causing the Service Module portion of the Apollo Command/Service 
Module to lose  its oxygen and electrical power. The crew used the Lunar 
Module as a lifeboat in  space. The command module systems remained functional but 
were deactivated to  preserve its capability to re-enter earth’s atmosphere 
upon return to the earth.  The crew endured difficult conditions due to severe 
constraints on power, cabin  heat, and drinkable water, but successfully 
returned to Earth. 
(...)  
Crew 
James A. Lovell (flew on Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and  Apollo 13), 
commander 
John L. Swigert (flew on Apollo 13), command module  pilot (replacing 
original CMP, Ken Mattingly) 
Fred W. Haise (flew on Apollo  13 and Space Shuttle Enterprise), lunar module 
pilot 
(...) 
Oxygen  tank explosion 
April 14, 1970, 02:08:53.555 UTC 
321,860 km from  earth. 
(...) 
Quote 
Famous misquote: “Houston, we have a  problem” 
Actual quote: “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here” [1],  uttered by 
Swigert to ground. Lovell then uttered this similar phrase: “Houston,  we’ve had 
a problem.” 


_http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112384/quotes_ 
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php?URL=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112384/quotes)  
Memorable  Quotes from 
Apollo 13 (1995) 
Jim Lovell: Houston, we have a  problem.  


14 April 1970, Chicago Tribune, “A Cool Voice  from Space Tells of Woe” by 
Stephen Crews, pg. 1: 
Houston, April 13—The  voice from Apollo 13 was crisp and cool tonight when 
the first word came—“Hey,  we’ve got a problem here.” 

It was the voice of Astronaut Fred Haise. The  tone of it seemed strangely 
business-like for a man who was outward bound from  earth, more than 205,000 
miles in space. 

“We had a pretty large bang  associated with the caution and warning [alarm] 
here,” Haise said.  


14 April 1970, Indiana (PA) Evening Gazette, pg. 3:  

“Houston, We’ve 
Had A  Problem” 
Lovell Declares 
SPACE CENTER, Houston (AP)—With the  words “Houston, we’ve had a problem,” 
Apollo 13 commander James A. Lovell Jr.  alerted the ground controllers that 
the planned lunar landing mission was in  trouble. 

Here are the highlights of the exchange between the spacecraft  (SC) and the 
capsule communicator (CapCom) in Mission Control. 

SC: “Hey,  we’ve had a problem. We’ve had a main B bus interval (a main 
circuit had  broken). 


19 April 1970, Washington Post, “Crisis in Houston:  The Fight to Save Apollo”
 by Thomas O’Toole, pg. 1: 
Houston confirmed to the  three men the loss of their main sources of power 
of oxygen and of water and the  prospect that they might never return to earth. 

It began in the flat,  unexcited voice the world has learned to expect from 
astronauts. 

“Hey,  we’ve got a problem here,” Lovell radioed. 

“Houston, we’ve had a  problem. We’ve had a Main B bus interval...and we had 
a pretty large bang  associated with the caution and warning there...and if I 
recall, Main B was the  one that had an amp spike on it once before.” 

Nobody knew it at the  time, but the “large bang” had come from one of two 
tanks in Odyssey’s service  module that supplied all its oxygen for electricity 
and the crew’s breathing.  


13 June 1970, Chicago Tribune, “Positive Thought Conquers  Fear” by Norman 
Vincent Peale, pg. S11: 
“WE’VE GOT A PROBLEM!” That phrase  achieved immortality when radioed across 
205,000 miles of space from Jim Lovell  in Apollo 13 to the mission control 
in Houston. 

“We’ve got a problem.”  What a quiet, calm way to inform the waiting 
millions that something had gone  wrong, that three brave men on a voyage to the moon 
might never see earth again!  

Apollo 13 was of course a triumph of teamwork, ingenuity, and  initiative. 


1 March 1974, Washington Post, “A Problem With ‘a  Problem’” by John 
Carmody, pg. C7: 
Former astronaut James A. Lovell, who  commanded the jinxed Apollo 13 space 
flight in 1970, has complained to the  National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration (NASA) that a made-for-tv movie  based on the mission is “fictitious and 
in poor taste.” 

The film,  “Houston, We Have a Problem,” will be seen Saturday night at 8:30 
on Channel 7  (WMAL). It was produced for ABC-TV by Universal Television. 
Posted by Barry Popik 
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