Tomato is found on the ISS, clearing NASA astronaut – 12/14/2023 – Science

NASA’s Frank Rubio returned to Earth in September this year after completing the longest space flight for an American astronaut. And, upon returning, he had to face a small red mark in his history: he had lost a tomato somewhere on the International Space Station (ISS).

The tomato’s disappearance, he explained, led to speculation that he had eaten the fruit in secret, thus consuming important scientific research due to a momentary desire for fresh produce while in Earth orbit.

“A proud moment of picking the first tomato in space became a wound I opened myself by losing the first tomato in space,” Rubio said in October in an interview with NASA in which he discussed his record 371 days in space.

The tomato mystery was solved, and Rubio’s name was cleared on the 6th during another interview, also by the American space agency itself, with the crew today on board the space station.

“Our friend Frank Rubio, who came home, was considered guilty for a long time, but we can exonerate him,” said Major Jasmin Moghbeli. “We found the tomato.”

Moghbeli did not describe either the condition of the fruit or where it was found. NASA did not respond to questions sent by email last Monday (11).

The tomato was grown as part of a project to study how aerial and water growing techniques affect plants.

Rubio said in an interview with NASA this year that one of his favorite science projects on the space station involved tomatoes. “I love working with that little plant and watching it grow and develop,” he said at the time.

Although the International Space Station is relatively small, there is plenty of room for a small tomato to disappear. The ISS is just over a hundred meters long, with six sleeping rooms, two bathrooms and a gym, according to NASA.

Outside, there is the immensity of space. Moghbeli was one of the astronauts involved in the loss of a bag of tools in November while performing routine maintenance on the space station.

No one even suggested that the tomato might be floating in space. Instead, suspicion fell squarely on Rubio.

In September, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy questioned Rubio about the missing tomato, asking if he had eaten the fruit.

“Right now, I wish I would have eaten it, because I think everyone thinks I did,” Rubio responded, laughing.

Back on Earth in October, Rubio said in a NASA interview that he had put the tomato in a small bag to show it to a group of students who were about to talk to one of his crewmates.

“I was pretty confident that I had closed [a sacola] with velcro. But when I came back, he [o tomate] was gone,” said the astronaut.

Rubio began a search for the missing tomato, which he estimated took between 8 and 20 hours. “I wanted to find it mainly to prove that I didn’t eat the tomato,” he said.

He then assumed that the tomato had “dehydrated to the point where it was impossible to identify what it was” and could have been thrown away.

Still in the same interview, Rubio stated: “I hope someone finds it one day, something wrinkled in a bag, and can prove that I didn’t eat the tomato in space.”