Koichi Wakata/Japan Aerospace Exploration Company/NASA
NASA astronaut Frank Rubio tests tomato vegetation throughout the Global Area Station in October 2022. The tomatoes have been grown with out soil the usage of hydroponic ways to show area agricultural strategies.
Join The Gentleman Report’s Marvel Principle science publication. Discover the universe with information on interesting discoveries, clinical developments and extra.
The Gentleman Report
—
Possibly nowhere within the universe is a contemporary, ripe tomato extra precious than at the Global Area Station, the place astronauts reside for months at a time subsisting principally on prepackaged, shelf-stable items.
That’s why astronaut Frank Rubio become the central determine in a lighthearted whodunnit that has taken months to resolve.
After Rubio harvested probably the most first tomatoes ever grown in area previous this yr, consistent with the astronaut, he admitted he out of place it.
“I put it in a bit of bag, and one in every of my crewmates used to be doing a (public) match with some schoolkids, and I assumed it’d be roughly cool to turn the children — ‘Good day guys that is the primary tomato harvested in area,’” Rubio mentioned all through an October media match. “I used to be beautiful assured that I Velcroed it the place I used to be intended to Velcro it … after which I got here again and it used to be long gone.”
Within the microgravity surroundings of area, the rest now not anchored to a wall is liable to floating away — destined to spend eternity hidden in the back of a corner or cranny inside the soccer field-size orbiting laboratory and its labyrinthian passageways.
Rubio mentioned he most likely spent 8 to twenty hours of his personal loose time simply on the lookout for that tomato.
“Sadly — as a result of that’s simply human nature — numerous individuals are like, ‘He most likely ate the tomato,’” Rubio mentioned. “And I sought after to search out it most commonly so I may end up like I didn’t devour the tomato.”
However he by no means discovered it.
Rubio returned to Earth on September 27 with the dear produce nonetheless misplaced aboard the distance station.
It remained misplaced — till now.
Right through a Wednesday information convention, individuals of the seven-person staff last at the area station printed that they had after all positioned the tomato.
Rubio had “been blamed for rather some time for consuming the tomato,” NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli mentioned. “However we will exonerate him.”
The astronauts didn’t disclose the place the tomato used to be or specify what state the produce used to be in when discovered.
Rubio surmised in October that it had most likely already contracted into an unrecognizable rot.
“The humidity up there’s 177%, and so it most likely desiccated to the purpose the place you couldn’t inform what it used to be,” Rubio mentioned.
Case closed.
Rubio’s go back to Earth in September used to be a historical second. His keep at the area station — which lasted greater than a yr — set a report for the longest a US astronaut has ever spent in microgravity.
Rubio initially anticipated to spend handiest six months aboard the Global Area Station. As an alternative, he logged 371 days following the invention of a coolant leak coming from his authentic trip — a Russian Soyuz spacecraft — whilst it used to be docked to the orbiting outpost.
In his October interview, Rubio stated how hard moments of the adventure have been.
“I roughly allowed myself an afternoon to really feel unhappy and sorry for myself, after which I attempt to in point of fact make a aware determination to mention OK let’s have a excellent perspective and let’s simply attempt to do the most efficient activity imaginable,” Rubio mentioned of finding out his keep could be prolonged via some other six months.
