Apollo 13
Definition
Apollo 13 was the seventh crewed mission of NASA's Apollo space program, launched in 1970 and intended as the third lunar landing, but aborted due to an onboard explosion, becoming a 'successful failure' with the safe return of astronauts James Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise.
Popularized by the 1995 film directed by Ron Howard starring Tom Hanks, symbolizing human ingenuity and resilience in the face of crisis, often referenced with the iconic line 'Houston, we have a problem.'
Examples
My weekend plans went full Apollo 13 after the pizza delivery guy vanished into a black hole of traffic.
In the kitchen, her soufflé rose like Apollo 13's rocket—then exploded spectacularly, but we all survived with forks.
His startup pitch was Apollo 13: launched with hype, hit a snag mid-flight, but crash-landed a deal anyway.
Dating apps are basically Apollo 13—promising moonshots, but one glitchy swipe and you're just trying to limp home safely.