Meaning
Houston, we have a problem is a phrase that means an unexpected issue has popped up. In other words, there is a problem of some kind.
Example #1: When Smith turned on the ignition to his car, he heard an odd noise coming from the engine. Afterwards, he sighed and said, “Houston, we have a problem; I’ll need to get this looked at.”
Example #2: Bonnie’s vegetables garden looks great, however, there is one problem: Some wild rabbits have been nibbling on her produce. Upon noticing this, she thought to herself “Houston, we’ve got a problem.“
1. We have an issue on our hands
2. We’ve got a problem
Tip: Want to read about more expressions like this? We have a list of sayings and phrases starting with “H” that you can check out. Feel free to explore it.
The Origin of ‘Houston, We Have a Problem’
What is the origin of this phrase? When some people hear the expression “Houston, we have a problem,” they might think of the 1995 movie Apollo 13 starring Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon. However, this expression actually stems from the events that the movie is based on. So let’s take a closer look at those events to see what we can learn about the phrase’s origin.
The Apollo Program
In the year 1961, the Apollo program was started by NASA. One of the goals of this program was to land humans on the moon and then have them return to earth. This was accomplished with the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. A famous phrase that came from this mission was: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” These words were spoken by astronaut Neil Armstrong when he set foot on the moon.
A year later, in 1970, there was Apollo 13. This mission was to be the third time that humans would set foot on the moon. However, something went wrong and it was aborted. What happened?
In short, an oxygen tank on the spacecraft failed a couple of days into the mission. After this issue was detected, astronaut Jack Swigert reported the incident to NASA’s Mission Control Center by saying, “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” Mission Control then asked him to repeat the message. This is when mission commander, Jim Lovell, said: “Uh, Houston, we’ve had a problem.” These events are where this famous quote and phrase originated.
Note: The words that Jack Swigert spoke to Mission Control Center were shortened sometime after the events mentioned above. For example, in the 1995 American film Apollo 13, Swigert (played by actor Kevin Bacon) said: “Hey, we’ve got a problem here.” When asked to repeat himself, Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks) said: “Houston, we have a problem.“
See Also:
– It’s Not Rocket Science
If someone tells you that “it’s not exactly rocket science,” what do they mean? Find out, plus see where this idiom might come from.
