Secret queso recipe from Austin's Kerbey Lane Cafe lost in crash of Israeli lunar spacecraft

Beresheet snapped this partial selfie during its approach to the moon. Beresheet snapped this partial selfie during its approach to the moon. Photo: SpaceIL/IAI Photo: SpaceIL/IAI Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Secret queso recipe from Austin's Kerbey Lane Cafe lost in crash of Israeli lunar spacecraft 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Israel's "Beresheet" lunar spacecraft crash landing on the moon Thursday resulted in the loss of some queso.

Actually, what was lost was a copy of the secret queso recipe from Austin's Kerbey Lane Cafe. Since the moon isn't actually made of cheese, Austin city leaders and cafe folks were willing to send some up that way.

"Ok, so it *crash* landed, but we are still so proud to have been a part of this historic event!" the cafe posted on Facebook Thursday afternoon.

In February, Austin Mayor Steve Adler drew parallels between the cargo heading for the moon and the historic race to the lunar surface.

"We choose to send queso to the Moon - and maybe someday chips as well, not because these things are easy, but because they are hard," Adler said. "The challenge to eat queso in zero gravity is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, among other key challenges, like next time remembering the chips."

MISSION MOON: Go iniside HoustonChronicle.com's celebration of the historic moon landing

Built by an Israeli nonprofit, the probe was launched on Feb. 21 on the back of a SpaceX rocket. Also on board was a physical archive comprised of documents laser-etched onto a radiation-proof disk. A full copy of the English-language version of Wikipedia was included.

Kerbey Lane Cafe opened in 1980 in north Austin and has expanded to eight locations across the city ever since.

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