The missing tomato isn’t a phenomenon that’s exclusive to your kitchen – it really happens to the best of us!
Eight months ago, astronauts on the ISS accidentally lost a tomato and, needless to say, it was one important tomato.
Part of NASA’s Veg-05 program, where they’re learning how to grow vegetables in space, the tomato went missing immediately after being harvested this March.
Obviously, things can’t really go missing on a fully isolated system like the ISS but, to NASA’s despair, that tomato did go missing for more than half the year.
“To be fair to Rubio, the ISS is larger than a six-bedroom house, and, in microgravity, things can easily float away to unexpected corners. NASA’s procedure is usually to check vent intakes, but in a station crowded with 25 years of stuff, it’s easy to lose track of individual items.
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Also, the tomato search did not unduly occupy his time, as Rubio’s Soyuz crew performed hundreds of other science experiments (despite the stress of the delay). If anything, the situation may show more about how to deal with the unexpected when growing plants on the moon or Mars, which the Veggie series of experiments eventually aims to achieve,” Space.com wrote about the missing ISS tomato.
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Now, in a December 6th livestream update, astronaut Frank Rubio basically cleared his name of accusations he ate the tiny tomato, saying it had finally been found.
“Hopefully somebody will find it someday, a little shriveled thing,” he had told reporters months back, saying he had spent dozens of hours looking for it, though people still thought he might have eaten it.
So, where was the ISS tomato? The bad news is that Rubio didn’t say, so this mystery will live on for space fans.
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Main photo by Ron Lach
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