Astronauts, animals and objects for experiments have traveled to space. But also, for an unusual reason, a wheel of cheese. Y Elon Musk had something to do with this last fact.
The head of SpaceX sent a wheel of cheese into space, as later confirmed. The event occurred in 2010, but it is an anecdote that transcends time.
The story is this, happening a decade before SpaceX launched the first all-civilian space voyage from Cape Canaveral. At that time, still testing for his company, the Dragon space capsule took off for the first time.
Inside it was the huge wheel of cheese.
The spacecraft circled the Earth twice and then fell into the Pacific Ocean, without major complications.
But why a wheel of cheese?
Elon Musk’s wheel of cheese and the influence of Monty Python
Musk later explained that it was for a work of MontyPython, the popular British comedy group.
As a South African, Musk grew up idolizing the comedy team, made up of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.
Your TV show Monty Python’s Flying Circus, It was one of the most recognized at the end of the 60s and during the 70s.
In one of his episodes, Cleese orders a dozen cheeses from a supplier, but none of the classes were available. Later, indignant, the actor ironized that the cheese shop… has no cheese.
Based on the sketch, Musk correlated that “catastrophe” of the lack of cheese in the store with the absence of food in outer space. So the tycoon chose a wheel of artisanal cheese, brand Le Brourere, to send it on the flight.
Elon Musk also paid tribute to Val Kilmer
As Space recalls, Le Brouere’s wheel was inside a metal cylinder capped with a Top Secret label, replicating a poster from the 1984 comedy film starring Val Kilmer.
On the cover was a cow dressed in boots, a joke that was used in the film.
The South African confirmed the anecdote in 2017, in a tweet: “The dumbest thing we can imagine. In the secret cargo of the first Dragon flight was a giant wheel of cheese, inspired by a friend and Monty Python.”
Silliest thing we can imagine! Secret payload of 1st Dragon flight was a giant wheel of cheese. Inspired by a friend & Monty Python.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 31, 2017
Atlas Obscura, cited by Tasting Table, notes that the cheese is on display at SpaceX headquarters for visitors invited by Elon Musk’s company.