Out to Launch

Lawrence is preoccupied with buying and naming stars online. He buys one for Phineas and Ferb, and also one for Candace. Candace and Isabella are preoccupied with a turn-around dance where the girls ask the boys out. Phineas and Ferb build a rocket to visit their star. Doofenshmirtz is also in space, seeking revenge on an adolescent nemesis.

Episode Summary
Phineas and Ferb are resting against the tree in the backyard listening to the radio with their pet, Perry the Platypus between them. The radio announcer is advertising the Night of the Falling Stars girls' choice dance which is happening that night. It seems Danville is in for a meteor shower and everyone in town has gone "star crazy."

Lawrence is especially star crazy as he's found out that he can purchase the naming rights to stars online and give them away as gifts. He brings out a certificate he printed online to show the boys that they are now the proud owners of their very own star. Phineas asks if Candace got one too, and being a good father, Lawrence bought her one as well despite the fact that she doesn't seem very interested in those sorts of things.

He is enamored by how easy and inexpensive it is to buy stars online, comparing it to the Oklahoma land rush of 1889. Sneaking up on them, Linda tells the boys that it was the corny history references that made her fall for him in the first place. She then explains that she and her friend Viviene are going to their mahjong tournament.

As Lawrence rushes back inside to buy more stars, Phineas suggests to Ferb that they go visit their star. He goes on to wax poetic about space travel: "the g-forces, eating dinner out of a tube, and going to the bathroom without going to the bathroom."

Meanwhile, at Googolplex Mall, Candace visits Jeremy and his friends in the food court to try and ask him out. He turns around and starts laughing at her. Then the earth explodes. At least this is the scenario that Candace is using to explain to Stacy why she can't ask Jeremy to the dance. Stacy, unimpressed, tells Candace that hers is kind of a worst-case scenario and that she can't let fear rule her life. She pushes Candace to call Jeremy as soon as she hangs up the phone. Candace agrees, hangs up, and proceeds to call Stacy right back to tell her she can't do it.

In the backyard, the boys are working on their rocket. First, they are going through tests of stamina to make sure they are suited for space travel. Ferb is exercising on a giant hamster wheel and Phineas has Buford spin him around really fast on a merry-go-round. Then, they get to work on the actual rocket. The Fireside Girls help assemble the fuselage, while Phineas and Ferb are trying to work out a formula, presumably for rocket fuel. They try several times, but are having difficulties coming on the correct one. Ferb notices their flaw: the square root of "bomb." Once Phineas changes it to the square root of "smiley face," everything works out.

They are finally ready to launch and Phineas gives Isabella and the Fireside Girls a tour of Mission Control. Even though it looks like a tiny shed in the middle of their backyard, it is huge inside since Ferb "really knows how to maximize space." The rest of the girls go inside, but Isabella stays to try and ask Phineas to the dance. Unfortunately, one of the other girls interrupts her by asking Phineas inside to sign some liability waivers.

Phineas and Ferb walk out their backdoor wearing their spacesuits. Perry, also wearing a spacesuit, is tucked under Phineas's arm. They are walking slowly and in a mist for dramatic effect until Isabella stops them. The three astronauts board the rocket as Isabella and the Fireside Girls act as Mission Control. Gretchen counts them down, but the rocket stalls out when Isabella pushes the ignition button. Phineas deduces they just need a jump-start.

Candace finally looks out the window and sees the rocket and Mission Control and heads down to the backyard. Phineas and Ferb are in the driveway with the hood of the family car open, jumper cables in hand. Candace climbs up inside the rocket and heads up the ladder into the cockpit. The boys have connect the jumper cables to the battery and Ferb hits the remote starter to start the car. It immediately launches the rocket into the sky, pulling the car along with it.

They head over to Mission Control where Isabella shows them who took off in the rocket. Candace is pressed against a hatch inside and her cheeks are covering her ears because of the g-forces. Phineas tries to communicate with her, but she can't hear him. Phineas realizes they need to go after her in the second rocket they built for Candace to see her star. He doesn't know why she took his and Ferb's. The second rocket is highlighted in pink and has flowers on it.

Candace escapes the atmosphere and the car comes loose from the jumper cables. It tumbles and lands on the runway into a space station to the chagrin of a pair of NASA shuttle astronauts. Somehow, the second rocket takes off perfectly and Phineas opens communications with Candace, reassuring her that as long as she doesn't start hitting buttons randomly, the rocket is preprogrammed to take her to their star. It's too late though, as she's already hitting random buttons. Phineas then asks about Perry.

Perry is sneaking down the rocket, putting on his fedora and answering his communications device. Major Monogram is on the other end informing him that Dr. Doofenshmirtz has built a space station, but The Agency can't afford to launch him into space due to budget cuts. Monogram gets cut off because Agent P shows Monogram that he is already in space. Agent P's mission is to find the Doofenshmirtz space station and stop the evil doctor. Perry opens an airlock and lets go of the communication device sending it out into the blackness of space and disorienting Major Monogram.

Candace has been studying her instruments wondering what all the red flashing things are. Phineas calmly tells her they're asteroids. Candace's rocket soon gets hit by two asteroids knocking out her engines. The boys change course to rescue her.

Perry has arrived at Doofenshmirtz's space station. It is shaped like a giant robot with huge hands and nothing below the waist. He gets sucked inside the robot and frozen in an ice cube tray by Doofenshmirtz. Using a crane on a track, Doofenshmirtz shows Perry the Platypus his station while telling him a story from his teen years.

It seems Doofenshmirtz was very adept at hand shadows, or shadow puppets. He found it great fun for entertaining people and meeting girls. Unfortunately Heinz's fun was ruined when a new boy arrived by the name of Huge Hands Hans. His puppetry wasn't very good, but that didn't stop him from taking away the girl that Heinz was trying to win over. He never did a shadow puppet again. Until tonight. His plan is to use a pair of gloves to control the hands of the robotic space station and make hand shadows on the moon.

Candace's situation is getting worse. She's in a decaying orbit and can't escape the gravity of one of the asteroids. According to Phineas, her only option is to put on the space suit and take a space walk to their rocket before crashing. She is afraid, but Phineas is trying to talk her out of being afraid, "You can't let fear rule your life."

In the meantime, Ferb has already reached her. Together, they head back to the pink rocket where Phineas contacts Isabella at Mission Control. After determining everyone is alright, Isabella starts to ask Phineas to the dance again but an alarm sounds inside the rocket. They are running out of fuel. Surprised, Phineas and the gang desperately try to find a fuel source, then find out that they were getting closer to something bright...

Meanwhile at the space station, Linda Flynn's car stays outside, still blocking the Space Shuttle which was scheduled to land.

-Episode Break-

The "Too Young" Line
Does this suit make my butt look big? Yes, yes it does.

Ferb's Line

 * "Candace, we are just kids"

Whatcha Doin'?

 * (None)

Perry's Entrance to His Lair

 * Perry flies into space with Candace on Phineas and Ferb's ship, to realize that he is needed to be in space via videophone, but due to budget cuts can't be sent up there, when he is up there thanks to Phineas and Ferb.

Background Information

 * "Building a rocket..." is a line in the Title Sequence, giving a preview for this. It showed Phineas jumping off the rocket in a Neil Armstrong fashion, as Ferb stays still behind him.


 * It is confirmed that Perry is working for the government when Major Monogram says the line "Now I've contacted the president and...". This was mentioned in the original story pitch, but was deleted from Rollercoaster for unknown reasons.


 * Doofenshmirtz' hand machine has realistic hand movements, probably indicating that it is computer-animated.

Continuity

 * This episode marks the second time we see Phineas and Ferb in space. The first was when their coaster went into orbit in "Rollercoaster". In "Traffic Cam Caper", the boys had built an elevator to the moon, but we didn't see it.
 * The elevator music version of "I'm Lindana and I Wanna Have Fun!" is playing during the establishing shot of Googolplex Mall.
 * Candace asks Stacy "What if while I'm asking him, a satellite falls out of orbit and crashes into the..." This is the same scenario she presents to her mom when asking if she's in charge in "Rollercoaster".
 * This is the third time you see Phineas looking straight so his head is like a kneedle

Allusions

 * The rocket building montage contains real-world footage of American efforts to build successful rockets during the early years of the space race in the 1960's. It is likely that the creators had Phineas and Ferb fail several times as an homage to all the hard work these scientists did to fulfill President Kennedy's dream.
 * The dramatic, vapor filled walk Phineas and Ferb take while boarding the rocket mimics that of several films including The Right Stuff and Armageddon.
 * Armageddon may also be the influence behind the orange space suits.

Star Wars

 * "Just like beggar's canyon back home," is a line from Star Wars: A New Hope referring to the treacherous journey along the Death Star.
 * Perry being frozen in the ice cube tray is similar to Han Solo being frozen in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back.
 * The giant hand machine Doofenshmirtz uses is possibly a reference to the Death Star in A New Hope.

Star Trek

 * "It's the final frontier, baby," the line at the very end in the song, is a reference to the famous "Space; the final frontier" of Star Trek.

Back to the Future

 * When Candace enters Jeremy's house in the radioactive-suit like space suit, it's a reference to when Marty wears a similar suit to convince his father to ask his mother out. Candace uses the same raspy voice, too.

Restaurant at the End of the Universe

 * The milk shake bar is probably a reference to Miliways from the book.

Cast

 * Vincent Martella as Phineas
 * Ashley Tisdale as Candace
 * Thomas Sangster as Ferb
 * Caroline Rhea as Linda Flynn
 * Richard O'Brien as Lawrence Fletcher
 * Alyson Stoner as Isabella
 * Mitchell Musso as Jeremy
 * Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz
 * Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Perry the Platypus
 * Ariel Winter as Gretchen