Probably almost everyone ever heard the expression: "Houston, we have problems." Or maybe even used that expression. But few people know who this phrase belongs to and how it gained wide popularity and popularity. And this story is exciting and rather tragic. So where does the phrase “Houston, we have problems” come from? And what does she mean?
How did the phrase “Houston, we have problems” come about?
Cosmos is something mysterious and attractive, terrible and at the same time beautiful. Man was always attracted by stars and inaccessible horizons, and he was looking for ways to them. And then once “Apollo 11” still reached the surface of the moon. The event itself is on the verge of fiction. Now every child and adult knows about him. After this flight, there were other expeditions. Apollo 12 also completed the mission and made the second landing on the lunar surface in history. But another ship from this series became known for another reason, very tragic. Apollo 13 had the same goal as its predecessors — an expedition to the moon.
But during the flight on board there was a sudden serious accident. An oxygen cylinder exploded and several fuel cell batteries failed.
But where does the phrase “Houston, we have problems” come from, and what does it mean? In the city of Houston, there was a space center that led the flight. The crew commander was James Lovell, an experienced astronaut. He reported to the center about the accident. He began his report with a phrase that can be translated into Russian as “Houston, we have problems.” This accident crossed out all plans and became an obstacle to landing on the moon. Moreover, she jeopardized a normal return to Earth. The crew did a great job. I had to change the flight path. The ship had to go around the moon, thereby setting a record for the largest distance of the aircraft from the Earth. Of course, such a record was not planned, but still. The crew was able to safely return to the ground, and it was a tremendous success.
This flight also helped to identify the weaknesses of the ship, so the next expedition was postponed due to the need to make some modifications.
"Apollo 13" in the cinema
This accident was a massive, exciting event. Many people with bated breath watched the development of events and hoped for a safe return of astronauts. All this sounds incredible, like the plot of a movie. The events of this story really later formed the basis of the film. The film was named after the ship, and when asked where the phrase "Houston, we have problems" comes from, he is quite capable of answering. The picture turned out to be quite detailed and believable, it also contains a dialogue between the spacecraft commander and the Space Center and a famous phrase sounds. The main role in the film was played by the famous actor Tom Hanks. The film made a great impression on the audience, and the phrase spoken by the commander of the ship became so popular that almost everyone knows it.
Using Quotation as a Sustainable Expression
Having understood where the phrase “Houston, we have problems” comes from, we can consider how it is used now. It has become a stable expression, one might say, phraseologism, and is used in everyday communication when you need to say that suddenly there were some unexpected problems, malfunctions. Also often these words can be found on the Internet in the context of various jokes. However, it is worth remembering that behind these words lies the story of brave people.