Houston, we have a problem?

Question

I forgot my cigarettes at the Cape! hehehe...

Ok seriously, where did this saying start and do they really say this if there is a problem?

Answer 1

It was the astronauts on the flight of Apollo 13 who had the problem. "Houston" was mission control, located in Houston, Texas. The links below tell the story of the problems faced by this aborted moon mission. It was also made into a major motion picture.

Answer 2

Of course it is a real saying. My Dad was one of the NASA designers--he said that the movie Apollo 13 was very accurate (I remember him rushing out of the house down to the Cape, being gone for days) except that a lot of things portrayed as being handled in HOuston were handled at the Cape, but that didn't matter, they were an incredible team. He was actually the guy who came up with the design to fit the round peg in a square hole to make a CO2 filter. I've been in the control room, it is cool. Yeah, that's pretty much where it came from, Apollo 13.
It was a really great way to grow up, with a rocket scientist who loved his work and didn't give a fig for credit. None of them seemed to, back then.

Answer 3

Hi. On Apollo 13 the astronauts reported the explosion (which nearly killed them) as a calmly stated "Houston, we have a problem." I heard this from Jim Lovell at a lecture. He also mentioned that it was amazing how much pee three nervous guys could make. It all had to be stored so the course would stay on track.

Answer 4

It originated with Apollo 13 (yes, that was real, not just a movie).
They really said something like this.
You can hear parts of it on the audio book version of Apollo 13, where they used some of the NASA historical tapes, with the crypto beeps and all.

Answer 5

I may be mistaken, but I think the term became infamous after it was used by the Apollo 13 crew to explain the situation that had occurred.