English Explanatory Dictionary

Houston, we have a problem

English dictionary entry

Meanings

phrase
  1. Used to report that a (major) problem has occurred.

Pronunciation

/ˈh(j)uːst(ə)n ˌwiː hæv ə ˈpɹɒbləm/ /ˈ(h)justən ˌwi hæv ə ˈpɹɑbləm/ En-au-Houston, we have a problem.ogg

Word forms

Houston, we have a problem

Etymology

A misquotation of the phrases “Houston, we’ve had a problem here” and “Houston, we’ve had a problem” said by the American astronauts Jim Lovell (1928–2025) and Jack Swigert (1931–1982), who were crew members of the Apollo 13 moon flight, to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, on April 13, 1970, after an oxygen tank triggered an explosion which led to the mission being aborted. The phrase in the form “Houston, we have a problem” was popularized by the film Apollo 13 (1995). The American screenwriter William Broyles Jr. (born 1944) altered the original phrases as he felt that “[t]he past perfect tense wasn’t as dramatic”. However, the phrase has been used earlier, for example, as the title of a 1974 television movie about the Apollo 13 mission.

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