At school, Punky makes a presentation about wanting to be an astronaut. Unfortunately, shortly after her inspiring presentation, the Space Shuttle Challenger fatally explodes soon after launch, resulting in the fatalities of all seven astronauts on board. America is observing national mourning, but Punky is hit especially hard. Mike tries to help his class understand the tragedy—especially Punky, whose dream is to become an astronaut, and because of the fatal explosion, her classmates think she's crazy. Not wanting to see Punky's dream die, Mike pulls some strings and manages to get famous astronaut Buzz Aldrin (as himself) to have a talk with Punky about the disaster. He convinces her to go on with her dreams, and makes her a member of the Young Astronauts. Thanks to Buzz, Punky decides to be brave and keep right on going with thoughts of going into space. Henry is embarrassed when Buzz arrives at the apartment to visit Punky, and sees Henry wearing a dress. Henry is wearing the dress because Betty needed a dummy to put the dress on so she could work on the dress.