Hey, history lovers, I'm Mike Rosenwald with Retropod, a show about the past, rediscovered.

On April 13th, 1970, the Apollo 13 mission to the moon was rocked by an onboard explosion.

The command module went dark. Earth was 200,000 miles away.

An astronaut radioed mission control.

Houston, we have a problem.

He was fairly calm for a man zipping through space with no curb to pull over to if they broke down.

And that phrase, Houston, we have a problem, it became a cultural touchstone.

Sportscasters say it, politicians say it,

in books, movies, plays and music, it's shorthand for saying something has gone awry,

sometimes terribly. Except it's wrong. As historical misquotes go, Houston, we have a problem,

is one of the all-time greats, and this is the story of how it came to be, and also how it didn't.

Up in space that night, after the explosion, astronauts Jack Swigert and James Lovell did radio mission control in Houston.

Okay, Houston.

Though it's a little hard to hear. Though it's a little hard to hear, it's right there in the transcript Houston we've had a problem so where did Houston we have a problem come from recently the Houston Chronicle identified the culprit or at least

claim to their story pointed a finger at the film Apollo 13 starring Tom Chronicle identified the culprit, or at least claimed to.

Their story pointed a finger at the film Apollo 13, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard.

It tells the dramatic story of how the three Apollo astronauts just barely survived the ordeal.

This is Houston. Say again, please.

Houston, we have a problem.

We have a main busby underbolt.

From a cinematic point of view, changing the phrase made for better filmmaking.

Drop the word okay, it's just filler anyway, and change the phrase from past tense to present to make it more urgent. One of the screenwriters, William

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