Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks) never said "Houston, we have a problem" like he does in the movie. It was actually Jack Swigert (played by Kevin Bacon) who uttered the famous phrase.
I'm sorry, but I do think that Jim Lovell says "Houston, we have a problem." He says it right after Mission Control looks at their screens and sees many different readings appear. Mission Control says "say again". Then Jim Lovell says "Houston, we have a problem." Jack Swigert says "err we got a problem"
You are correct, Swigert says.. uh we have a problem here, and Houston replies "say again" THEN Lovell says HOUSTON WE HAVE A PROBLEM HERE.. So technically they both say it.
How could BOTH of you miss the point? In real life - not the film - Lovell (Tom Hanks) DID NOT SAY "Houston, we have a problem." Swaggert (Kevin Bacon) DID. When things went wrong Swaggert was at the com station, and he was speaking to Houston Control. Lovell was not. However, the phrase has become part of our cultural history and so Ron Howard gave the line to his big star, Tom Hanks. Never mind historical accuracy, just think about the box office.
Here is the actual log of the communication between Apollo 13 and Houston Control, copied from the web-site http://members.accessus.net/~090/awh/as13.html#tv2 :55:52:58 -
CapCom: "13, we've got one more item for you, when you get a chance. We'd like you to stir up your cryo tanks. In addition, I have shaft and trunnion..."
55:53:06 - Swigert: "Okay." (over CapCom)
55:53:07 - CapCom: "...for looking at comet (J. C.) Bennett (19691), if you need it."
55:53:12 - Swigert: "Okay. Stand by."
55:55:20 (9:07 PM CT) - Swigert: "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here."
55:55:28 - CapCom: "This is Houston. Say again please."
55:55:35 - Lovell: "Ah, Houston, we've had a problem. (pause) We've had a main B bus undervolt."
This site has comm logs for almost the entire Apollo 13 mission, and also some parts of the loop communications between the flight controllers in Houston.
Lovell definately said "Houston we've had a problem" in real life, although he said it after Swigert (just like in the movie). If you need proof you can go to the NASA website, www.nasa.gov, and they have the exact dialogue, and I believe they have the audio of it as well.
If you didn't notice, in this sequence, they don't show who said "Houston we've had a problem" the first time. They show Swigert (Bacon) conversing with Houston as he is stirring the tanks and such. Then they cut to Houston saying "This is Houston. Say again please;" then Lovell (Hanks) repeats "houston we've had a problem," much like it appears in the actual conversation: Swigert to Houston to Lovell.
I'm sorry, I'm going to stick up for this guy. I think what he's trying to say is that in the commercial for it, Tom Hanks said "Houston we have a problem." Thinking that Tom Hanks said it before Kevin Bacon. Another thing, why ya'll getting so worked up about it? If your gonna holler about it, then go to nasa and get the dialouge.
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