why do people in space say "Houston we have a problem"?

Question

who the hell is Houston

Answer 1

1. The sentence was never said in space, it is a line from a movie. The original sentence is: "Houston, we have had a problem here". It was said once, during Apollo 13, after one oxygen tank exploded and crippled the ship. See the movie "Apollo 13" for reference.



2. Houston is a big town in Texas (you should know it, it is significant enough), and the home of the Johnson spaceflight center (JSC), where the Mission Control Center of NASA (since the Gemini missions) is located. You still call "Houston" as astronaut, when you call the mission control center of the USA.

Answer 2

Urwumpe is correct. Part of the protocol for communications between Apollo and Huston was that you never use the word "problem" unless you believe the mission is in serious jeopardy. In other words, it was a deliberate understatement to avoid unnecessary panic in the news media. When Mission Control in Houston, TX, hear the word "problem", thousands of technicians suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline. Those on their way home, slammed on the brakes, did a half donut and floored the gas back toward work. So, when people say, "Houston, we have a problem," they are indicating that kind of serious emotion. However, most of the time, the statement is made facetiously, with a chuckle.

Answer 3

More often then not, they do not say that. The main NASA base is located in Houston, Texas. So in saying "Houston, we have a problem" They are letting the crew on the ground know that there is something wrong. However the few space missions that occur are very well planned, and problems, at least major ones, are getting more and more rare as time goes on.

Answer 4

This phrase was made mainstream after the Apollo 13 mission. After a small explosion on the spacecraft while traveling to the moon, the following transmission was:

Swigert: 'Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here.'

Duke: 'This is Houston. Say again please.'

Lovell: 'Houston, we've had a problem. We've had a main B bus undervolt.'



In the movie 'Apollo 13' that came out in '95, Jim Lovell, played by Tom Hanks, simply said "Houston, we have a problem" after the explosion.

Answer 5

Its a way of reporting technical problems on the ship and Houston (Tx) is where the base is located. Today in movies its used more of a joke than anything else.

Answer 6

The Johnson Centre is one of the main NASA sites in America; a lot of shuttles take off from there and the crew are radioing the crew back on site about the problem that they are having. I assume that on a shuttle video, a real one, this was said- and now it is used as a comic attribute to some TV shows and movies. A bit like a lot of Elvis' & MJ quotes (Elvis has left the building, SHAMONE!) etc. haha :)

Answer 7

Houston is a NASA control center; astronauts are radioing in a problem to NASA.