Behold The Power Of ...

Who says rocket scientists don't have a sense of humor? Before the successful launch, voyage, and recovery of SpaceX's Dragon Spacecraft, the first time in history a commercial company has recovered a spacecraft from orbit, reporters were buzzing with news of a "secret" payload, stowed on board.

SpaceX Photo Credit Chris Thompson

It was a payload so secret, SpaceXers made it Top Secret (think Val Kilmer 1984, not official US Government).

So what was inside the mystery package?  Their tribute to Monty Python.
 
A wheel of cheese.

SpaceX Photo Credit Chris Thompson

We're not exactly sure which Python reference that could be ... but we're leaning towards either the infamous "cowtapault" in The Holy Grail, or "Blessed are the cheese-makers" from Life of Brian. Either way, we know that SpaceX hopes to be sending more astronaut-appropriate supplies to ISS aboard a Dragon capsule in the not-too-distant future.

Of course, after a couple of laps around the Earth at 17,000 miles an hour or so, it does give new meaning to the phrase "Cheese-Whiz" ... and it did cost a lot of cheddar to get the project off the ground. (Couldn't resist, ed.) 

FMI: www.spacex.com