--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Houston, that may have seemed like a very…" description: "\"Houston, that may have seemed like a very long final phase. The autotargeting was taking us right into a ... crater, with a large number of big boulder..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a89/neil-armstrong-5298_apollo_houston-that-may-have-seemed-like-a-very_2885110.jpg" --- # Houston, that may have seemed like a very long final… ![“Houston, that may have seemed like a very long final phase. The autotargeting was taking us right into a ... crater, with a large number of big boulders and rocks ... and it required ... flying manually over the rock field to find a reasonably good area.” quote by Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a89/neil-armstrong-5298_apollo_houston-that-may-have-seemed-like-a-very_2885110.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a89/neil-armstrong-5298_apollo_houston-that-may-have-seemed-like-a-very_2885110.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a89/neil-armstrong-5298_apollo_houston-that-may-have-seemed-like-a-very_2885110.jpg) > “Houston, that may have seemed like a very long final phase. The autotargeting was taking us right into a ... crater, with a large number of big boulders and rocks ... and it required ... flying manually over the rock field to find a reasonably good area.” [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The mission faced unexpected terrain, requiring manual navigation and adaptation. **In simple terms:** Unexpected obstacles demanded hands‑on problem solving. Key Takeaway Adapt to unforeseen challenges. Themes exploration problem‑solving resilience Mood reflective determined Type historical inspirational When to use this quote - engineering projects - adventure travel - emergency response Key Concepts spaceflight risk management Questions to Reflect On - What strategies help when plans fail? - How do you stay calm under pressure? A Different Perspective Manual control can be risky. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apollo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apollo/) [Boulders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boulders/) [Craters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/craters/) [Exploration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exploration/) [Flying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flying/) [Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/houston/) [Large numbers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/large-numbers/) [Rocks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rocks/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Space exploration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-exploration/) [Star gazing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/star-gazing/) ## Related quotes > [“Beauty by mistake' -- the final phase in the history of beauty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/beauty-by-mistake-the-final-phase-in-the-history-of-beauty/) [milan kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [We have in fact entered upon the final phase..., the darkest period of this dark age, the state of dissolution from which there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ren-gu-non/we-have-in-fact-entered-upon-the-final-phase-the-darkest-period-of/) [Rene Guenon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ren-gu-non/) > [“final phase of Fink’s plan—a mechanism to deliver their ideas to the street and to mobilize the public’s support behind them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-mayer/final-phase-of-fink-s-plan-a-mechanism-to-deliver-their-ideas-to-the/) [Jane Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-mayer/) > [I, Galileo, son of the late Vicenzo Galilei, swear that I never said that the prime numbers are useless. What I said was that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/i-galileo-son-of-the-late-vicenzo-galilei-swear-that-i-never-said/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [That hemisphere of the moon which faces us is better known than the earth itself; its vast desert plains have been surveyed to within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-flammarion/that-hemisphere-of-the-moon-which-faces-us-is-better-known-than-the/) [Camille Flammarion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-flammarion/) > [In Iraq, the U.S. military's whack-a-mole approach to killing Saddam Hussein may have finally paid off. The bombs destroyed the area and left behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/in-iraq-the-u-s-military-s-whack-a-mole-approach-to-killing-saddam/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [Opportunity could be defined in so many ways. There's one way of defining it, equality of opportunity, which is in fact the equality of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/opportunity-could-be-defined-in-so-many-ways-there-s-one-way-of/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [ We haven't seen a real volcanic event at least in 74,000 years - \[Mount Toba\] in Indonesia, in Sumatra, where the crater itself is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-herzog/we-haven-t-seen-a-real-volcanic-event-at-least-in-74-000-years-mount/) [Werner Herzog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-herzog/) > [Seeing every height crowned with its crater, and the boundaries of most of the lava-streams still distinct, we are led to believe that within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/seeing-every-height-crowned-with-its-crater-and-the-boundaries-of/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [She wouldn't climb out of the bed for her sister, but she had climbed into a crater. She wouldn't cross a room, but she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-marra/she-wouldn-t-climb-out-of-the-bed-for-her-sister-but-she-had-climbed/) [Anthony Marra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-marra/) > [“Let my silence grow with noise as pregnant mothers grow with life. Let my silence permeate these walls as sunlight permeates a home. Let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/let-my-silence-grow-with-noise-as-pregnant-mothers-grow-with-life-let/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [But my vote for Venus's most peculiar feature is the presence of craters that are all relatively young and uniformly distributed over its surface.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/but-my-vote-for-venus-s-most-peculiar-feature-is-the-presence-of/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Love is a volcano, the crater of which no wise man will approach too nearly, lest ... he should be swallowed up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/love-is-a-volcano-the-crater-of-which-no-wise-man-will-approach-too/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [“Thirty-five craters on the moon are named for Jesuit scientists and mathematicians. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-e-woods-jr/thirty-five-craters-on-the-moon-are-named-for-jesuit-scientists-and/) [Thomas E. Woods Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-e-woods-jr/) > [But to carve the Grand Canyon, Earth required millions of years. To excavate Meteor Crater, the universe, using a sixty-thousand-ton asteroid traveling upward of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/but-to-carve-the-grand-canyon-earth-required-millions-of-years-to/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) ## More by Neil Armstrong > [There are people I'll always love to listen to, and I'm always ending up discovering new songs by them, which is crazy. Like Stevie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/there-are-people-i-ll-always-love-to-listen-to-and-i-m-always-ending/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [I have been in relatively high-risk businesses all of my adult life. Few of the others, however, had the possibility of direct gains in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-have-been-in-relatively-high-risk-businesses-all-of-my-adult-life/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [Damn I really did it. I blew the first words on the moon, didn't I?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/damn-i-really-did-it-i-blew-the-first-words-on-the-moon-didn-t-i/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [Fear is not an unknown emotion to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/fear-is-not-an-unknown-emotion-to-us/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [I fully expected that, by the end of the century, we would have achieved substantially more than we actually did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-fully-expected-that-by-the-end-of-the-century-we-would-have/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [As a boy, because I was born and raised in Ohio, about 60 miles north of Dayton, the legends of the Wrights have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/as-a-boy-because-i-was-born-and-raised-in-ohio-about-60-miles-north/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [The single thing which makes any man happiest is the realization that he has worked up to the limits of his ability, his capacity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/the-single-thing-which-makes-any-man-happiest-is-the-realization-that/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks, but for the ledger of our daily work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-guess-we-all-like-to-be-recognized-not-for-one-piece-of-fireworks/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [Science has not yet mastered prophecy. We predict too much for the next year and yet far too little for the next 10.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/science-has-not-yet-mastered-prophecy-we-predict-too-much-for-the/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [Lindsay Lohan isn't a DJ, but because of her celebrity power she can do a gig somewhere, put her name on a flyer, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/lindsay-lohan-isn-t-a-dj-but-because-of-her-celebrity-power-she-can/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [The exciting part for me, as a pilot, was the landing on the moon. That was the time that we had achieved the national…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/the-exciting-part-for-me-as-a-pilot-was-the-landing-on-the-moon-that/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/houston-tranquillity-base-here-the-eagle-has-landed/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-didn-t-feel-like-a-giant-i-felt-very-very-small/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [I tell you, we're going to be busy for a minute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/i-tell-you-we-re-going-to-be-busy-for-a-minute/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) > [Opportunities will be available to you that you cannot imagine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-armstrong/opportunities-will-be-available-to-you-that-you-cannot-imagine/) [Neil Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) [Explore all 101 Neil Armstrong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-armstrong/) ## More Apollo quotes > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Kennedy had made a mess in Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. 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Call me Fred.” A god named Fred?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/apollo-i-guessed-he-put-a-finger-to-his-lips-i-m-incognito-call-me/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [As a former Apollo astronaut, I think it's safe to say that SpaceX and the other commercial developers embody the 21st century version of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/as-a-former-apollo-astronaut-i-think-it-s-safe-to-say-that-spacex-and/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [I think if you were between maybe 6 and 16, there was nothing like Apollo, and I wonder if there can be something like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-stern/i-think-if-you-were-between-maybe-6-and-16-there-was-nothing-like/) [Alan Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-stern/) > [Apollo was a big, unwieldy vehicle. I had a problem with the flight controllers over that. It would try to fare its way like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-schirra/apollo-was-a-big-unwieldy-vehicle-i-had-a-problem-with-the-flight/) [Wally Schirra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-schirra/) > [I used to be a street performer, and performances on Venice Beach, it's like playing the Apollo: They let you know if they don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-hiroyuki-tagawa/i-used-to-be-a-street-performer-and-performances-on-venice-beach-it-s/) [Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cary-hiroyuki-tagawa/) > [I owe much of my success to Seann Walsh. He kept recommending me for Live At The Apollo until eventually the producers offered me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romesh-ranganathan/i-owe-much-of-my-success-to-seann-walsh-he-kept-recommending-me-for/) [Romesh Ranganathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romesh-ranganathan/) > [A typical smart phone has more computing power than Apollo 11 when it landed a man on the moon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-gibbs/a-typical-smart-phone-has-more-computing-power-than-apollo-11-when-it/) [Nancy Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-gibbs/) > [Armstrong, sitting in the commander's seat, spacesuit on, helmet on, plugged into electrical and environmental umbilical's, is a man who is not only a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/armstrong-sitting-in-the-commander-s-seat-spacesuit-on-helmet-on/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Have any of you taken a look out at Greece in the last, say, hour or so? (Hermes) What? Are they reacting to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/have-any-of-you-taken-a-look-out-at-greece-in-the-last-say-hour-or-so/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“I couldn’t say I was surprised that Apollo hadn’t given me a lot to work on. The jerk was known for delivering little to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-l-armentrout/i-couldn-t-say-i-was-surprised-that-apollo-hadn-t-given-me-a-lot-to/) [Jennifer L. Armentrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-l-armentrout/) > [“As additional precautions, Kranz requested that a two-hundred-foot radio antenna (called a deep-space dish) in Australia be added to the global network tracking and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-s-f-cooper-jr/as-additional-precautions-kranz-requested-that-a-two-hundred-foot/) Henry S.F. Cooper Jr > [“He saw her eyes bright as stars; he saw her lips, and was not satisfied with only seeing them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-saw-her-eyes-bright-as-stars-he-saw-her-lips-and-was-not-satisfied/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Among the gods, there is a dispute as to which one of them originally thought of Christianity; or, as they call it, the Great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-holt/among-the-gods-there-is-a-dispute-as-to-which-one-of-them-originally/) [Tom Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-holt/) [Browse all 382 Apollo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apollo/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Houston, that may have seemed like a very long final phase. 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