“Lost Tomato Found in Space, Absolving Astronaut of Accusations”
After being missing for eight months on the International Space Station, a tomato that had been part of NASA’s Veg-05 experiment has finally been located. The tomato, a Red Robin dwarf variety, disappeared shortly after being harvested in March, causing speculation and playful accusations against astronaut Frank Rubio, who was said to have eaten it.
The Veg-05 experiment was focused on growing fruits and vegetables in space to explore the feasibility of continuous fresh-food production. The missing tomato was finally found and revealed by NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli during a livestream on December 6.
The project had expanded the scope of in-space farming to include dwarf tomatoes, looking into how lighting and fertilizer variations influence fruit growth, safety, and nutritional value. After the harvest in March, each astronaut received a tomato sample stored in a Ziploc bag, but they were instructed not to consume them due to concerns about potential fungal contamination.
The news of the missing tomato first emerged during an event commemorating Rubio’s one-year stay in orbit. Rubio, who had an extended mission on the ISS due to a malfunctioning Russian Soyuz spacecraft, lamented the loss of his tomato share, which had floated away before he could take a bite.
Moghbeli did not specify where on the 356-foot space station the one-inch-wide red dwarf tomato was located, or in what condition it was in. The Rubio tomato turned out to be one of only 12 red dwarves successfully germinated and grown to ripeness in space during the Veg-05 project, compared with more than 100 in a parallel experiment conducted on Earth, according to NASA.
The tomato’s discovery has brought relief to the astronauts and has absolved Rubio of the allegations against him. The strange saga of the lost tomato in space has finally come to an end, and it has provided valuable insights into the challenges and possibilities of space farming.