This is the episode where Howard finds out he's been chosen to go up into space. It ticked me off when it first aired too, because neither Howard's nor Bernadette's fears have any basis. Howard is not "choosing" to abandon his "family" like his father did; and Bernadette's cop father went to work EVERY DAY at a dangerous job. Howard is likely to, at best, only get ONE trip into space. (Yes, he was chosen again later due to a fluke failure of the equipment he worked on the first time. But, that was a fluke, AND he didn't go the second time.)