"Houston, we have a problem" (1970)

[Dave Wilton]

I different NASA source gives a slightly different wording in the original and
attributes both statements to Lovell. From the Apollo 13 Air-To-Ground
Technical Voice Transcription, found at http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/frame.html,
p. 160:

SWIGERT (LMP): Okay, Houston--
LOVELL (CDR): I believe we've had a problem here.
CAPCOM (CC): This is Houston. Say again, please.
LOVEL: Houston, we've had a problem.



Quoting 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.
> ...
> ...
>
_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/houston_we_have_a_pro
> blem/_
>
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/houston_we_have_a_problem/)
>
> ...
>
> 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
> _Texas_ (http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/category/C78/)
> •
> (0) _Comments_
>
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/comments/houston_we_have_a_problem/)
>   • Sunday, August 06, 2006 • _Permalink_
>
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/houston_we_have_a_problem/)
>
>
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--
Dave Wilton
dave at wilton.net
http://www.wilton.net/dave.htm

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