Janet has a radio in her home through which NASA allows her to listen to mission communications. When things go wrong, Deke Slayton orders that the broadcast be cut. Rather than sit at home and worry, Janet storms into the outer rooms of Mission Control and yells at Slayton – demanding that the broadcast to her radio be resumed. When he tells her not to worry, she explodes in anger.

“You don’t have anything under control! You’re a bunch of boys, making things from balsa wood!”

When those “boys” – fathers, husbands, men that we’ve seen playing with their families – start dying horrible, fiery deaths, the allegiance of the audience starts to shift. This framing of the tale, and the use of Janet, means that we lose the comfort...

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