Houstan, We Have A Problem

I don’t know why, but I realised today that I had no idea where that very famous phrase comes from. I don’t watch a lot of films, and I’d not seen Apollo 13. My knowledge of space history is also very poor.

Well now I know. I’m very glad to find out that it isn’t just a film quote,and that there’s a real story behind it. (in fact, the real-life quote IS slightly different, but not really.

Anyway, should you also be wondering about the origin of the famous quote meaning that an unexpected problem has occurred, then you can read an account of the events by the guy who spoke it: http://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-13-1.html

There’s some fascinating other stories there as well.