Learn English – “Houston, we may have a problem here” – Meaning

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I have heard this phrase many times in movies and people who use it as a pun in forums.

  • What does this mean?

  • Where did it originate from?

  • When do we use it?

There is a Wiktionary entry for a slightly different form of the phrase that explains some of this ("Houston, we have a problem"). However, I feel that the wiki page has little information in it. Besides, it's not uncommon to get some other/additional interesting facts about such 'obvious' things in this community.

Best Answer

Originally a genuine report of a life-threatening fault. Now used humorously to report any kind of problem. Note that, given the importance of the event, the expression is used humorously in many languages, not only in English.

  • The origin can be traced to the phrase in past tense

    • Swigert: 'Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here.'

    • Houston: 'This is Houston. Say again please.'

    • Lovell: 'Houston, we've had a problem. We've had a main B bus undervolt.'

  • that was used by the crew of the Apollo 13 moon flight, to report a major technical problem back to their Houston base on the 14th April, 1970.

The phrase is normally misquoted:

  • like "Houston, we have a problem" from the movie "Apollo 13":

(The Phrase Finder)

The phrase is considered to be one of the most famous understatment in history, from it probably its humorous usage afterwards:

  • Talk about a huge understatement, Jim Lovell's famous quote aboard Apollo 13 after an Oxygen tank exploded of simply "Houston, we've had a problem" is probably the most famous space quote ever.

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