Cheese - UK Space Mission unsuccessful

It's Cheese Jim but not as we know it!
In a bizarre story that is greatly influenced by Wallace and Gromit, the UK animated figures, a cheesemaker's stunt to launch a wedge of cheddar cheese into space fell flat on its face after the organisers lost contact with its payload just minutes after lift-off.

The West Country Cheesemakers, who organised the 'mission', attached a 300kg chunk of cheese to a weather balloon, which lifted off from Pewsey, Wilts, at 4am on July 28.

The balloon floated up to the 'edge of space' at 18.6 miles (30km) above sea level, where the 1.6m-wide helium balloon was expected to burst.

The cheesemakers were expecting that the record-breaking capsule would then fall gently down to earth on a special parachute. They had even fitted the capsule with a digital camera to take pictures of the cheese in 'outer space'.

Unfortunately, the plans of mice and men sometimes go astray. The on-board GPS satellite system, which was supposed to track the intergalactic dairy product, failed shortly after take-off.

It is still unclear whether the balloon managed to succeed in its bizarre mission but it was a bold step forward for intergalactic cheese trading.