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On April 13, 1970, the Apollo 13 mission to the moon was rocked by an on-board explosion.

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

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An astronaut radioed mission control: “Houston, we have a problem.”

The phrase 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.

The ‘Houston, we have a problem’ declaration is one of the all-time great historical misquotes, with an entertaining, fascinating linguistic backstory so good that it, of course, also turns out to be not quite true.

Up in space that night, after the explosion, this was the actual dialogue between mission control and astronauts Jack Swigert and James Lovell.

Search Google for “Houston, we have a problem,” and you’ll get 800,000 results. Search Google for “OK, Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” and you’ll get 3,180.