The group had planned to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1969 moon landing with the first space flight by a piece of cheese. At 4am on Tuesday 28 July, members of the group attached the wedge of authentic, handmade Farmhouse Cheddar to a weather balloon and launched it into space.
The plan was for the balloon (and the cheese) to ascend to 100,000 feet attached to a specially designed capsule that carried digital camera equipment and a GPS satellite tracking device. The balloon was set to burst at the edge of space and the capsule and its flavoursome cargo would fall back to earth with the aid of a custom-made parachute.
Yet, minutes after launch, the GPS system failed and the West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers lost track of their cargo. The group has appealed to anyone finding the cheese to make contact.
“We will not rest until we know if the cheese did indeed make it where no cheese has been before,” said Philip Crawford, chairman of the West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers group. “We ask the public to help us with the safe return of our ‘Cheddarnaut’ and contact us through our website if they find it.”
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the UK, the International Cheese Awards in Nantwich is under way (28-29 July 2009). *Dairy Innovation* magazine is at the show and will feature highlights in the next issue.
Source: West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers
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