It takes a village to raise a child and it takes seven astronauts to find a tomato lost in space.
Frank Rubio, a NASA astronaut and US Army lieutenant colonel, became a pioneer when he grew and harvested one of the first tomatoes ever grown in space in March of this year.
But when one day it inexplicably disappeared, people assumed it had been eaten.
“I was pretty sure I Velcroed it where I was supposed to,” he said during a NASA briefing after his time in space. “And then I came back and it was gone.”
Rubio had just completed the longest space flight by an American, having been in low Earth orbit for 371 days.
“Rubio’s journey into space embodies the essence of exploration,” a NASA statement read, graciously forgiving Rubio for losing the fruit.
Astronaut Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency observes tomato plants growing aboard the International Space Station on October 21, 2022. Nicole Mann/NASA
Rubio grew tomatoes on the International Space Station, a modular space station that collaborates with space agencies from the United States, Japan, Europe, Russia and Canada.
Microgravity on the ship means that loose objects often float uncontrollably.
Rubio suspected that this was happening with tomatoes.
“I spent so many hours looking for that thing,” he said.
“I wanted to find it mainly so I could prove that I didn’t eat the tomato.”
“I’m sure the dried tomato will appear at some point and vindicate me, years in the future.”
Fortunately, he only had to wait a little over two months.
ISS members revealed they had found it during a Wednesday broadcast celebrating the station’s 25th anniversary.
Microgravity on the ship means that loose objects often float uncontrollably. Rubio suspected that this was happening with tomatoes. NASA/SWNS
“Our good friend Frank Rubio…has been blamed for quite some time for eating the tomato. But we can exonerate him,” said astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, who arrived at the station in August.
The status of the tomato was not confirmed.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn