How we authenticated this artifact
The museum's public record of the evidence, sources, and verification behind “Houston, we have a problem.”. Every artifact is traceable to primary evidence before it goes on display.
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
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
How this was verified
Every artifact passes through the museum's research pipeline — discovery, research and authentication, cataloguing, exhibition drafting, and a Museum Standards review gate — before it reaches the galleries. Claims are traced to primary sources and confidence is stated honestly. Read how the museum works →
- Primary — original publications, letters, speeches, films, official archives.
- Scholarly — academic books, historical journals, museum and library collections.
- Research reference — Quote Investigator, Wikiquote, institutional research.
- General reference — only when corroborated.
Unsourced quote websites are never used as evidence.
Catalog record
- Collection ID: MM-0011
- Gallery: Movie Misquotes · Blockbusters
- Quote type: Misquote
- Confidence: High
- Published: 2026-07-06
- Last updated: 2026-07-07