” Houston, we have a problem here.”
– John Swigert
That’s right. John Swigert, NOT Jim Lovell. While Lovell‘s transmission became part of NASA history, it was command module pilot John Swigert who actually called Houston first about the problem. Here’s the official NASA transcript on the incident.
Jim Lovell (Mission Commander), John Swigert (Command Module Pilot), Jack Lousma, CAPCOM (Mission Control)
Swigert: “Okay, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”
Lousma: “This is Houston. Say again please.”
Lovell: “Houston, we’ve had a problem. We’ve had a main B bus undervolt.”