Houston, We've Got a Problem explained

Genre:Drama / Sci-Fi
Director:Lawrence Doheny
Starring:Robert Culp
Clu Gulager
Gary Collins
Sandra Dee
Ed Nelson
Music:Richard Clements
Country:United States
Language:English
Executive Producer:Harve Bennett
Producer:Herman S. Saunders
Location:Johnson Space Center - 2101 NASA Rd., Houston, Texas
Cinematography:J.J. Jones
Editor:Robert F. Shugrue
Runtime:74 min.
Company:Silverton Productions
Universal Television
Network:ABC

Houston, We've Got a Problem is a 1974 American made-for-television drama film about the Apollo 13 spaceflight, directed by Lawrence Doheny and starring Ed Nelson in the role of NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz.

Technical and historical accuracy

See also: Houston, we have a problem. The title of the film is a misquotation of the ominous announcement made by Commander Jim Lovell following the explosion of an oxygen tank which tore off the side of the spacecraft's service module. Lovell actually said, "Houston, we've had a problem".[1]

The film does not focus on the spaceflight itself, but rather on the crises in Mission Control. Jim Lovell wrote a letter to TV Guide about the film, saying that the crises in Mission Control were dramatized. Lovell called the film "fictitious and in poor taste."[2]

Executive producer Herman Saunders said he could have never sold the television station on a documentary and that warnings were added to the film to indicate it was fictitious.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Detailed Chronology of Events Surrounding the Apollo 13 Accident. NASA. 2011-04-11.
  2. News: Apollo 13 Movie Irks Lovell. Associated Press. The South Bend Tribune. South Bend, Indiana. February 28, 1974. 5. Newspapers.com.