Dry statement of fact - the message to Houston about the presence of problems has become a household tirade, implying and expressing a colossal range of various feelings and emotions: from despair to irony. In fact, few of our compatriots know for sure where the phrase “Houston, we have problems!” came from.
Unconfirmed information
Finding out where the phrase: “Houston, we have problems!”, One of the common versions should be taken into account, stating that the public heard the popular expression long before the events actually happened and the release of Ron Howard’s brainchild.
As many authoritative sources say, for the first time with such a message to unknown at that time to everyone except Americans, Houston was addressed by the hero of the fantastic film Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) directed by Byron Haskin. Of course, it will be difficult for a curious viewer who, in order to find out where the phrase: “Houston, we have problems!”, Take the risk of looking at the picture, to take it seriously. For more than half a century, the picture has become noticeably outdated, and now it is similar to a children's fairy tale. The plot of the tape is based on the immortal novel by Defoe, the action is moved from desert island to the red planet. After a spaceship crash, Captain Draper, with limited supplies of food and water, finds himself on the surface of Mars. At first it seems that he has no chance of surviving, but events develop in an unpredictable way. But along with this, there are two more alternative and documented versions that explain where the phrase: “Houston, we have problems!” appeared.
Real events
The second theory refers to the dramatic events of 1970 on the manned space shuttle Apollo 13. This, which later became catch phrase, astronaut John Swigert said. On April 11, 1970, the crew of the spacecraft, according to the flight plan, went into orbit. Literally a few days later, a breakdown occurred, as a result of which the ship lost its source of electricity and a certain supply of water. According to the protocol, the participants of the space expedition had to report unforeseen circumstances to Earth, namely to the Houston Space Center. The only difference between John Swigert's report and common expression there was a time. In reality, the notification sounded like "Houston, we had a problem," that is, in the past tense, indicating the elimination of difficulties. Why the past tense changed to the present and where the phrase: "Houston, we have a problem" came from, will be described below. But thanks to the elimination of the consequences of the accident and the return to earth of the spacecraft, NASA technicians were able to identify technical flaws in the design, and the astronaut's speech came into use by the masses around the world.
space drama
The film directed by Ron Howard "Apollo 13" (1995) has an eloquent slogan consisting of the phrase: "Houston, we have a problem!" Where this expression came from in the film is known only by its screenwriters W. Broyles Jr., E. Reinert and D. Lovell. According to the plot, it is spoken by the hero Jim Lovell, whose role was brilliantly played by the charismatic Tom Hanks. After the premiere of the film, it became clear to audiences around the world that Houston is not only not specific person(and not even Whitney Houston, to whom a lot of jokes were addressed on this topic), and the NASA space center that controls flights. By the way, the saying, which in its original version meant the presence of serious difficulties, was often used by filmmakers in their works, for example, in Armageddon (1998).
Currently, NASA has opened access to its online library of audio files, where everyone can listen to and download all famous phrases astronauts, including the one to which this publication is devoted.
Traveling to other planets has long excited the minds of people. Films about the adventures of astronauts began to be shot back in the 20th century, although the technologies of that time did not yet allow, as they do today, to show a colorful and reliable picture of another world. But the beginning of space exploration fueled interest in science fiction and gave the directors a powerful incentive to develop this theme in their works. Robinson Crusoe on Mars was made in 1964. He talks about the flight of two astronauts to Mars. During an unsuccessful landing, one of the explorers of the Red Planet dies, and Commander Chris Draper remains in the desert world only in the company of a small monkey who flew in with them. But the man does not despair and begins his struggle for survival. It was in this picture that the phrase “Houston, we have problems” that later became widely known was first heard.
"Lost"
In 1969, another about space flights- "Lost". It talks about American astronauts, which after the completion of the mission as a result of an accident in orbit with limited stock oxygen. While people in space tried to survive, NASA hastily developed methods to save them. As a result, with the involvement of the USSR spacecraft, two astronauts can be saved. "Lost" also featured "Houston, we're in trouble!".
Apollo 13
However, the appeal to Houston became truly famous after the astronauts of the Apollo 13 manned spacecraft returned to Earth. Due to the explosion of an oxygen tank and a series of subsequent breakdowns, the astronauts were stuck on a ship with a limited supply of oxygen and drinking water. NASA did not have a clear plan for their rescue, and all emerging emergency situations were resolved by specialists space agency in real time. The phrase "Houston, we have a problem" was said by one of the crew members, reporting to Earth about the breakdown. The flight of Apollo 13 took place a few months after the release of The Lost, so it is possible that the astronaut repeated what his “colleague” who found himself in a similar situation said. The Apollo 13 mission that nearly ended in disaster served as the basis for a film of the same name, which tells about the courage of the astronauts, the professionalism and dedication of NASA employees. Phrase-
Not everyone has heard the capital of Texas, but Houston is, of course, familiar to everyone by the common phrase "Houston, we have a problem!" from the movie Apollo 13. In fact, the replica of the astronauts sounded a little different, but in popular culture this option caught on.
Houston is well deservedly called space city: The Lyndon Johnson Space Center is located in its suburbs. NASA uses it for astronaut training, flight control, development spaceships, medical research etc. In addition, now there is a museum where you can look at shuttles, pieces of the moon and other evidence of human spaceflight.
Otherwise, this is an ordinary American metropolis, very large (4th in terms of population in the United States after New York, Los Angeles and Chicago) and rather dirty. The local smog is especially famous and bad water, although in recent decades Houston is gradually introducing "green" production, energy production and transportation.
Houston experienced real problems in the 80s, when, against the backdrop of the oil crisis, the city lost 220,000 jobs and could simply die out. He was saved by the accelerated diversification of the economy: dependence on the "oil needle" has halved (from 87 to 44%), and the main emphasis is on the aerospace industry and healthcare.
01. Downtown is small, there are several rather old skyscrapers here. This "opener" in the center is CenterPoint Energy Plaza built in 1974, and the "pencil" on the left is 1600 Smith Street, built in 1984.
02. In the center there are historical buildings, but there are very few of them, and they look obviously superfluous among the primitive skyscrapers ... This is the main building of the Houston public library(1926). 
03. City Hall resembles a truncated classic skyscraper. As if there was something similar to the Empire State Building, but then the top was cut off. 
04.
05. The center is somewhat abandoned in some places, there are unkempt buildings. It really does look like Detroit. 
06. Pedestals give an idea of what buildings were at this intersection before. Of course, the cabinet is decorated with a Lone Star. To make the star not so lonely, there are two of them. 
07. Downtown sometimes looks deserted. Pay attention to the multi-level parking! We will return to them. 
08. Bicycle rental. Bicycle stations have names here. 
09. Like the state capital, Houston has a network of dedicated bikeways. Generally speaking, in the USA big cities took a course on cycling) 
10. Ordinary bus running on gas. But for polluted Houston, this is progress. There are currently two routes that serve central part cities, travel seems to be free. 
11. In 2004, a small light rail system called METRORail opened in Houston. Now two lines are working, another one is being completed, this year they should already launch traffic on it. 
12. The compositions are used as local production (Urbos LRV Spanish development) ... 
13. And purely European (Siemens S70). 
14. This is the main street of the city, which was recently reconstructed. You will be surprised, but it is called Main Street) 
15. The reconstruction project was called Midtown Houston and affected several streets at once. 
16. Concrete on the main streets is gradually being replaced with tiles and bricks. The intersection is paved in such a way as to clearly mark the tram tracks. Drivers automatically slow down before such an intersection. 
17. For the movement of cars, one lane was left here in each direction. 
18. The paths are separated, there are flower beds between them. In general, there is less and less space left for cars))) 
19. Parking is not continuous, but in rare pockets. 
20. Tram rails, landing platform, bike station and only one lane for cars. This is how a modern street in a big city should look like. 
21. Many American cities Now they are reconstructing, driving motorists out of the streets, creating pedestrian spaces. 
22. Houston is no exception, despite Texans' passion for cars. 
23. Not bad. 
24. Not just a stop, but a complete platform. 
25. Here on the routes there are paid and free zones. Houstonians can buy something like our Troika and, in some cases, "earn" free rides for themselves. But between such signs there are obviously no exceptions for payment. 
26. Payment before boarding in such machines. 
27.
28.
29. car traffic in the center in some cases unilateral. Here I want to say that car cities are a thing of the past, but read the post to the end;) 
30. Improvement 
31.
32. Non-obvious solution with trees in the center of the sidewalk. 
34. Instead of open ground, there are plants and wood shavings. 
35. An attempt to make the city car-friendly leads to the construction of such multi-storey car parks right in the center. 
36. There are many multi-level parking lots in Houston, but even they are not enough. There is nothing good about these parking lots. 
37. Prices, of course, are lower than in Manhattan: an hour - only 284 rubles, 2 hours - 568 rubles. 
38. All wastelands are also usually occupied by parking lots. 
39. The transition is marked with paving. 
40. Houston storm sewer manhole. Pelican and fish promote clean water. 
41. Some hatches indicate exactly where the drain leads. Makes you wonder if you should dump any filth here if your kids are swimming in this bay tomorrow. 
42.
43. Many American cafes have iPads. Here it is proposed to give a tip in the amount of 10 to 25% of the bill. One of the reasons, . 
44. This is the so-called Rothko Chapel, 14 works by Mark Rothko in black are exhibited on its walls. In front of the entrance is a Broken Obelisk, also known as the Black Needle. 
Interiors: 
45. Signpost in front of the Houston mandir (Hindu temple) 
46. And here is the temple itself. It is unexpected to see this in a typical American city. 
47. It is believed that this is the first traditional mandir in North America. It was opened in 2004. To create it, 33,000 individual elements were manually cut out in India, which were then transported to the USA and assembled in Texas as a designer. 
48. And this is classic Houston, without any trams and bicycles. 
49. Only highways, only hardcore. 
50. And giant interchanges. 
51.
52. Look, what a console with traffic lights! And it is elegantly crowned with a lantern! 
53. One-story America 
Travel notes:
culture
Not better way make an impression smart person how to mention a well-known quotation from the treasury of world literature in time.
However, many quotes taken out of context often have a completely opposite meaning.
Here are a few of these famous phrases that people often misunderstand.
Quote about love
1. "Love, you move the world"
This one of the famous misinterpreted quotes was mentioned in famous fairy tale Lewis Carroll "Alice in Wonderland". One of the characters in the book, The Duchess, casually says this phrase after spanking her child for sneezing. In context, the author used this wise saying sarcastically.
"And the moral from here is: 'Love, love, you move the world...,' said the Duchess.
Someone said that the most important thing is not to meddle in other people's affairs, ”Alice whispered.
So it’s the same thing,” said the Duchess.
Movie Quotes
2. "Elementary, my dear Watson"
This phrase is known throughout the world as belonging to Sherlock Holmes and is considered the same attribute of the famous British detective as his pipe and hat. However, Holmes never said "Elementary, my dear Watson" none of the 56 short stories and 4 works by Conan Doyle. However, this phrase very often appeared in films.
The words "Elementary" and "my dear Watson" appear in close proximity in the "Hunchback" story, but are not pronounced together. In a long dialogue, after the brilliant deduction demonstrated by Holmes, Watson exclaims: "Excellent!", to which Holmes replies "Elementary!"
The phrase itself appeared for the first time in the book "Psmith the Journalist" by the English writer P. Wodehouse, as well as in the 1929 Sherlock Holmes film, perhaps to make the characters more memorable.
3. "Houston, we have a problem"
On Saturday, April 11, 1970, astronauts Jim Lovell, John Swigert and Fred Hayes entered orbit aboard Apollo 13. A few days later, an accident occurred, as a result of which the crew lost their source of light, water and electricity.
Crew members reported technical problems to base Houston" Houston we had a problem".
In the film based on these events, this phrase was used in the present tense to add drama. Now it is used to report any problem, often with a humorous meaning.
Bible Quotes
4. "God helps those who help themselves"
This phrase referred to as a passage from the Bible, although the phrase itself never appeared in any of the translations of this book. It is also believed that the famous American figure Benjamin Franklin spoke it, as well as the British theorist Algernon Sidney.
The idea is that divinity cannot replace the actions of the individual himself.
Interestingly, this phrase contradicts what the Bible says, where the only salvation is in God, who "saves the helpless."
5. "Money is the root of all evil"
This phrase is a misinterpretation of the quote " The love of money is the root of all evil which was mentioned in the New Testament by the Apostle Paul.
And even this phrase is a distorted translation Greek phrase, which meant that greed can lead to various troubles, and not that all evil lies in the love of money.
This quote took on a stronger meaning, perhaps, during the industrial revolution, when society concentrated on the accumulation of wealth.
Quotes with meaning
6. "The end justifies the means"
This quote, which is attributed to the Italian thinker Machiavelli, has the exact opposite meaning the real phrase that was used in his work "The Sovereign".
It says " Si guarda al fine", that is, "need to take into account final result", which means that "the end does not always justify the means". In other words, instead of being merciless in achieving great purpose, Machiavelli was trying to say that one should always consider whether some things are worth the sacrifice and effort.
7. "Religion is the opium of the people"
This is another example of the misinterpretation of words. famous figure Karl Marx. Not only did he never directly say that religion is the opiate of the people, but he himself words at that time had a completely different meaning.
The quote that was used as a critique of Hegel's work was:
"Religion is the breath of an oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a soulless order. Religion is the opium of the people."
The phrase is a little ambiguous, since in those days opium was not considered a mind-clogging substance, and opiates were legal, freely sold and considered useful medicine. From this point of view, Marx considered religion to be a useful tool that alleviates suffering.
Probably almost everyone has heard the expression: "Houston, we have a problem." Or perhaps even used that expression. But few people know who owns this phrase and how it acquired wide popularity and popularity. And this story is fascinating and rather tragic. So where does the phrase "Houston, we have a problem" come from? And what does she mean?
How did the phrase "Houston, we have a problem" come about?
Space is something mysterious and attractive, scary and beautiful at the same time. Man has always been attracted by the stars and unattainable horizons, and he was looking for ways to them. And then one day, Apollo 11 did reach the surface of the moon. The event itself is on the verge of fantasy. Now every child and adult knows about it. After this flight there were other expeditions. Apollo 12 also completed the mission and made the second-ever landing on lunar surface. But another ship from this series became famous for a different reason, a very tragic one. 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 tank exploded and several fuel cell batteries failed.
But where does the phrase "Houston, we're in trouble" come from, and what does it mean? In the city of Houston, there was a space center that directed 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, it 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 longest removal 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 huge success.
This flight also helped to identify weak sides ship, so the next expedition was postponed due to the need to make some modifications.
"Apollo 13" in cinema
This accident was a large-scale, exciting event. Many people with bated breath watched the development of events and hoped for a safe return of the astronauts. It all 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 commander of the ship and space center and sounds famous phrase. main role The film was played by famous actor Tom Hanks. The film produced for the audience great impression, and the phrase uttered by the ship's commander has become so popular that almost everyone knows it.
Using a quote as a stable expression
Having figured out where the phrase “Houston, we have a problem” comes from, we can consider how it is used now. It has become a stable expression, one might say, a phraseological unit, and is used in everyday communication when you need to say that some unexpected problems, malfunctions suddenly arose. Also, these words can often be found on the Internet in the context of various jokes. However, it is worth remembering that behind these words lies the history of brave people.
