For almost a year, the world has been waiting with bated breath for access to a criminal organization orbiting more than 400 miles above everyone’s heads. Last week, the wait came to an end as astronaut Frank Rubio’s name was cleared. NASA posts a brief overview A story detailing a months-long search for MIA produce.
What happened to the dwarf tomatoes that disappeared?
Back in November 2022, the International Space Station received a cargo delivery containing the following materials: Veggie-05, a project by NASA researchers and astronauts designed to advance understanding of soilless microgravity hydroponic and aeroponic cultivation methods. Access to fresh food will be essential as humans undertake long-term missions to the Moon, Mars, and perhaps beyond. Regular grocery shopping won’t necessarily be an option for the first inhabitants of a potential Mars base, so growing healthy, nutritious crops like tomatoes will be a must.
Veg-05 provided the astronauts with the opportunity to explore different cultivation techniques, ultimately resulting in impressive yields. dwarf tomato. At the time, astronauts, including Frank Rubio, intended to eventually sample the bounty of the ISS garden. After plucking his first two berries from the vine, Rubio sealed them in a Ziploc bag and “Velcroed them where they should be,” he recalls. NASA video.
“And when I came back, it was gone,” he continued.
Lost items are usually recovered within Many ISS intake portsRubio estimates he spent 18 to 20 hours of his spare time searching for the missing tomato, all to no avail. All the while, a light rumor began to spread within the ISS that he had just eaten a snack without telling anyone. Rubio ultimately returned to Earth on September 27, breaking the record for longest stay in space (371 days), but the charges remain. However, in a subsequent Dec. 6 livestream, the ISS’ current residents announced the news that Rubio’s innocence may finally be confirmed.
[Related: Microgravity tomatoes, yogurt bacteria, and plastic eating microbes are headed to the ISS.]
“We can prove his innocence. We found a tomato[es]” said astronaut Jasmine Moghbeli. during last week’s broadcast.
Almost a year after their disappearance, two small tomatoes have been rediscovered. It was a little squishy from dehydration, but mostly intact and in its original Ziploc container.
But Rubio wasn’t the only one who couldn’t eat produce grown in space. In April 2023, NASA announced Although the astronauts successfully grew tomatoes, they were unable to actually taste the final product due to the unforeseen risk of fungal and microbial contamination. But in fact, Rubio’s rediscovered tomatoes reportedly showed no outward signs of contamination, so perhaps they had some cosmic karma.
Updated 12/19/23 9:04am: by email to pop sciencea NASA spokesperson confirmed Tomato’s hiding place:
Tomato was discovered behind the Earth-facing (or forward-facing) hatch of the International Space Station’s Harmony module. The hatch holds a pressurized mating adapter that allows the visiting spacecraft to dock in the microgravity laboratory. Harmony is the connection point between the space station’s other modules, housing crew quarters as well as providing power and electronic data to the orbital complex.