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Cheesemakers in space flight bid Capsule of cheese 'lost in space'
(about 8 hours later)
Members of the West Country Cheesemakers group are to attempt to make the first space flight by a piece of Cheddar. Members of a West Country cheesemakers group hoping to make the first space flight by a piece of Cheddar say they have lost track of it.
The group plans to launch a weather balloon 18.6 miles (30km) into the upper atmosphere carrying a capsule containing a piece of handmade Cheddar. At 0400 BST a weather balloon was launched 18.6 miles (30km) into the upper atmosphere, carrying a capsule containing a 300g wedge of Cheddar.
The balloon should burst at the edge of space and the capsule should float back to the ground on a parachute. But the organisers' GPS tracking system has stopped working and now they need help to find the cheese once it lands.
The attempt is being made to mark the 40th anniversary of the moon landings. They say it could land anywhere between Pewsey in Wiltshire and Hertfordshire.
Philip Crawford, chairman of the West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers group, said: "We are very proud of our authentic Cheddar which we make by hand on our farms and we set ourselves the very highest standards. Cheese pride
"It seemed appropriate, therefore, that we should mark the anniversary of the first moo-n landing with a giant leap for cheesekind." Dom Lane, of the West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers group, told BBC Wiltshire: "We've been tracking the trajectory and the current prediction is that it could land anywhere from here in Wiltshire to Hemel Hemsptead.
In 2007 the West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers put a traditional round of Cheddar onto the internet via a webcam which allowed people to watch the cheese mature live on the web over the course of 12 months. "The GPS isn't coming through on the web so we might need listeners' help to find it because we're not sure where it is at the moment."
It was expected that the balloon would burst at the edge of space, leaving the capsule to float back to the ground on a parachute.
The bizarre mission is to mark the 40th anniversary of the Moon landings.
Philip Crawford, chairman of the West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers, said: "We are very proud of our authentic Cheddar which we make by hand on our farms and we set ourselves the very highest standards.
"It seemed appropriate, therefore, that we should mark the anniversary of the first Moon landing with a giant leap for 'cheesekind'."
In 2007 the group used a webcam to allow internet users to watch a traditional round of Cheddar mature live on the web over the course of a year.
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Cheese makers attempt to make space history