Bureaucrats aren't particularly known for a sense of humor or of history. So it was something of a shock when the North American Numbering Plan Administration, the agency that assigns area codes, came up with a clever new one for Brevard County in Florida.

The county, home of Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center, has long had ties to the space program. So the new code, which is being used voluntarily starting this month and will become permanent in a year, is 321, as in ''3-2-1 liftoff.''

Actually, the idea didn't come from a pencil-pusher, but rather from a Brevard resident, Robert Osband, who describes himself as a telecommunications hobbyist and space enthusiast.

''This gentleman came to one of our hearings and said, 'Look, can we get 321 for Brevard County?' '' said Kevin Bloom, a spokesman for the Florida Public Service Commission.