Space Station to Earth: Houston, we found the tomato
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio returned to Earth in September after completing the longest space flight for an American astronaut and had to face a small, red mark on his legacy: He had lost a tomato somewhere on the International Space Station.
The tomato’s disappearance, he explained, had led to speculation that he had secretly eaten it, wasting important scientific research in a fit of craving for fresh produce while orbiting the Earth.
“A proud moment of harvesting the first tomato in space became a self-inflicted wound of losing the first tomato in space,” said Mr. Rubio said in an interview with NASA in October, discussing his record of 371 days in space.
The mystery of the tomato was solved on Wednesday and Mr. Rubio’s name was cleared during a separate interview from NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston with the crew currently aboard the space station.
“Our good friend Frank Rubio, who went home, has been accused of eating the tomato for some time, but we can acquit him,” said Major Jasmin Moghbeli. “We found the tomato.”
Major Moghbeli did not describe the condition of the tomato or where it was found. NASA did not immediately respond to emailed questions Monday.
The tomato was grown as part of a project to study how air- and water-based growing techniques affect plants.
Mr. Rubio said in an interview with NASA this year that one of his favorite science projects on the space station was studying the tomato plant. “I love working with that little plant and watching it grow and develop,” he said.
Although the International Space Station is relatively small, there is enough room for the disappearance of a small tomato. The space station is 100 meters long and has six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms and a gym. according to NASA.
Then there’s the unending expanse beyond. Major Moghbeli was one of two astronauts who lost a tool bag in space while performing maintenance on the space station in November.
No one had suggested that the tomato floated in space. Instead, the suspicion fell squarely on Mr. Rubio.
NASA’s deputy administrator, Pam Melroy, teased Mr. Rubio about the missing tomato in Septemberasking if he had eaten it.
“I wish I would have done that right now because I think everyone thinks I did that,” Mr. Rubio responded, laughing.
Back on Earth in October, Mr. Rubio said as much in an interview with NASA he had put the tomato in a bag to show it to a group of students who were about to have a conversation with one of his crew members.
“I was pretty sure I had Velcroed it where I was supposed to velcro it, and then I came back and it was gone,” he said.
Mr. Rubio then began a search for the missing tomato, which he estimated would take between eight and 20 hours. “I mainly wanted to find it so I could prove, ‘I didn’t eat the tomato,’” he said.
He suspected that the tomato was “so dried out that you couldn’t tell what it was” and could have been thrown away.
Mr. Rubio said, “Hopefully someone will find it someday, a little shriveled thing in a ziplock bag, and they can prove that I didn’t eat the tomato in space.”