jsc.nasa.gov

RJe1 TIL that the flaw that destroyed Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 almost occurred on another mission a year earlier. One of the astronauts on the 1985 flight was told that “you came within three-tenths of one second of dying.”
VOQ8 TIL the famous quote from the movie Apollo 13 “Houston, we have a problem” was changed for creative purposes from the actual phrase said by astronaut Jack Swigert, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
yGbe TIL Alan B. Shepard Jr., the first American in space, was grounded from spaceflight for the next 10 years due to an inner-ear disorder. When he was finally cured and chosen to walk on the moon, NASA headquarters grounded him again - from Apollo 13.