“Houston, we have a problem.”
Houston, we have a problem is a misquote of a real Apollo 13 transmission. On April 13, 1970, command module pilot Jack Swigert said Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here, and commander Jim Lovell shortly repeated Ah, Houston, we've had a problem. The present-tense form popularly attributed to Lovell was popularized by the 1995 film Apollo 13, where the tense was changed for dramatic effect; variant present-tense forms also circulated before the film.
Hook
Everyone remembers Jim Lovell saying it: “Houston, we have a problem.”
The transcript says otherwise — and it wasn’t even Lovell who said it first.
On April 13, 1970, when an oxygen tank failure crippled Apollo 13, the crew radioed Mission Control with words that were calm, precise, and slightly different from the ones the whole world now repeats.
The Common Quote
“Houston, we have a problem.”
This version is universally attached to the Apollo 13 mission and, in memory, to commander Jim Lovell. It appears in the 1995 film Apollo 13, spoken by Tom Hanks as Lovell, and it circulates everywhere as a stock phrase for “something has gone wrong” — in journalism, advertising, and everyday speech.
The Common Belief
The common belief is that commander Jim Lovell, facing a life-threatening emergency aboard Apollo 13, radioed Mission Control with the present-tense report: “Houston, we have a problem.”
The belief is understandable. The line is real to the mission — the crew did report a problem to Houston in almost those words. And the 1995 blockbuster film put exactly this sentence in the mouth of its star, playing Lovell, at the story’s pivotal moment. Memory keeps the drama and simplifies the details.
The Reality
Two things drift in the popular version: the verb tense and the speaker.
According to NASA’s official air-to-ground voice transcription, the first report came from command module pilot Jack Swigert:
“Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”
CAPCOM Jack Lousma replied, “This is Houston. Say again, please.” Moments later, commander Jim Lovell repeated:
“Ah, Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
Both crew members used the past-perfect “we’ve had a problem,” not the present-tense “we have a problem.” The polished present-tense form was popularized by the 1995 film Apollo 13, though variant present-tense forms circulated before the film. The remembered line is a dramatized paraphrase that displaced the transmitted words in public memory — a misquote of a real transmission, compounded by a speaker misattribution.
The Evidence
Primary Evidence
The primary evidence is NASA’s official record of the transmission itself: the Apollo 13 Technical Air-to-Ground Voice Transcription (NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, NTRS document 20160014370). At Ground Elapsed Time ~055:55:19–20, Swigert says, “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” CAPCOM asks him to repeat (055:55:28), and Lovell answers, “Ah, Houston, we’ve had a problem.” (055:55:35).
The restored, digitized Mission Control audio at Apollo 13 in Real Time corroborates the transcript wording against the original recordings.
Institutional Evidence
NASA’s own mission account states: “Swigert saw a warning light that accompanied the bang and said, ‘Houston, we’ve had a problem here.’ Lovell came on and told the ground that it was a main B bus undervolt.” It places the event at 9:08 p.m. EST on April 13, 1970.
Where the Popular Wording Comes From
The present-tense “Houston, we have a problem” was popularized by the 1995 film Apollo 13. Screenwriter William Broyles Jr. chose the present tense because the actual verb tense “wasn’t as dramatic.” Variant present-tense forms predate the film — a 1974 television drama was titled “Houston, We’ve Got a Problem,” and a 1983 NASA radio program used a similar variant title — so the film accelerated, rather than invented, the drift. The exact earliest instance of the present-tense wording remains an open research question.
Related file:
- MM-0011 Research Packet
Timeline
| Date/Year | Event | Source/Note |
|---|---|---|
| April 13, 1970 | Swigert transmits “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here”; Lovell repeats “Ah, Houston, we’ve had a problem” | NASA air-to-ground voice transcription (primary) |
| 1974 | Television drama titled “Houston, We’ve Got a Problem” uses a present-tense variant | Period sources via Wikipedia (lead) |
| 1983 | A NASA radio program uses a similar variant title | Period sources via Wikipedia (lead) |
| 1995 | The film Apollo 13 popularizes “Houston, we have a problem,” attributed solely to Lovell | 1995 Universal film; screenwriter’s deliberate tense change |
Why It Spread
The screenwriter deliberately shifted the line to the present tense: the past-perfect “we’ve had a problem” reads as a resolved event, whereas “we have a problem” signals an ongoing crisis — better suspense for a film. A blockbuster with a star delivering the line then fixed the dramatized wording in collective memory, overwriting the transcript.
Public memory also simplifies the speakers, collapsing a two-person exchange — Swigert first, then Lovell — into a single iconic commander.
The altered form has idiomatic utility, too. As a stock phrase for “something’s wrong,” the present tense is grammatically natural for live use, which reinforces it with every repetition. And because variants circulated in television and even NASA’s own outreach before 1995, the error was of longer standing than the film that made it famous.
Museum Verdict
Verdict: Misquoted (with a secondary misattribution).
Actual wording: “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” (Jack Swigert), then “Ah, Houston, we’ve had a problem.” (Jim Lovell).
Confidence: High.
Summary: “Houston, we have a problem” is a misquote of a real Apollo 13 transmission. On April 13, 1970, command module pilot Jack Swigert said, “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” and commander Jim Lovell shortly repeated, “Ah, Houston, we’ve had a problem.” The present-tense form popularly attributed to Lovell was popularized by the 1995 film Apollo 13, where the tense was changed for dramatic effect; variant present-tense forms also circulated before the film. The words are authentic to the mission, but the remembered wording and sole attribution to Lovell are not.
Verdict: Misquote · Confidence: High — How we know →
Sources
- Apollo 13 Technical Air-to-Ground Voice Transcription, NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, April 1970. NASA Technical Reports Server, document 20160014370. Establishes transmitted wording, tense, and speaker order.
- Apollo 13 in Real Time — restored Mission Control audio and transcript (apolloinrealtime.org). Corroborates the transcript against the original audio.
- NASA — Apollo 13 mission details (nasa.gov). Institutional account confirming Swigert as first speaker and the past-perfect wording.
- Wikipedia — “Houston, we have a problem”, used as a lead to cited period sources (1974 TV drama; 1983 NASA radio program; screenwriter William Broyles Jr. on the tense change).
- Cavna, Michael. “‘Houston, we have a problem’: The amazing history of the iconic Apollo 13 misquote.” Washington Post (Retropolis), April 13, 2017. Corroborating lead; full text not retrievable at time of research.
- MM-0011 Research Packet
- Collection Catalog
Related Artifacts
- MM-0001 — “Luke, I am your father.”
- MM-0010 — in the research pipeline
Provenance & sources — how we authenticated this artifact →
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Exhibit MM-0011 · Movie Misquotes · Published 2026-07-06 · Last updated 2026-07-07