Nervous and not looking forward to the launch, Howard begins to reflect on the last couple of days, revealing that he married Bernadette before he left.
Amy is devastated that her position as maid of honor has been reduced to nothing, but is allowed to wear the dress she bought to City Hall.
Raj and Leonard come up with the idea that they could get married on the roof of Leonard, Sheldon and Penny's apartment building block, when the Google Maps satellite is passing directly overhead to take new pictures and they can have the new image of the roof be the picture of their wedding cards taken from space.
As they share their first marital kiss, the camera pulls back from the apartment roof to reveal that the floor has been decorated like a heart with an arrow through it, starting with Bernadette's dress - also showing a glimpse of Mrs. Wolowitz - and then zooms out further to a view of the planet Earth.
When the rocket engines ignite and the final countdown begins, everyone nervously watches the space launch from Leonard and Sheldon's apartment.
Sava opined that "The Countdown Reflection" was not "as funny as last week's episode", but "delivers when it comes to that quality that has always been [The] Big Bang Theory's strongest suit: heart".
Shaffer called the framing device of Howard in the capsule "pretty awesome" and said that the show featured "a better balance of geeky jokes, relationship humor, character and Sheldonisms" than the rest of the fifth season, as well as "a decent share of touching moments".