A famous quote that at the time must have sent shivers up dozens of
backs, today it is mostly used in a humorous way to indicate there
might be a problem.
Originally this quote was said more or less
like that by astronaut John Swigert and astronaut James Lovell who
were aboard Apollo 13 together with astronaut Fred Haise Jr. The exact talk is as follows:
Swigert: 'Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here.'
Duke: 'This is Houston. Say again please.'
Lovell: 'Houston, we've had a problem. We've had a main B bus undervolt.'
The
'Houston, we have a problem' quote was later used and made popular as the tag line
for the 1995 film 'Apollo 13' which is about Apollo 13 and the problems
aboard it.
At the time of the quote, Apollo 13 was on an approach towards the moon for a scheduled moon landing. The problem however made them drop the landing from the schedule as all efforts were now focused on getting the crew of Apollo 13 back home safely.