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The NASA astronaut Frank Rubio returned to Earth in September after finishing the longest single spaceflight for an American astronaut and needed to confront one small, pink mark on his legacy: He had misplaced a tomato someplace within the Worldwide Area Station.
The tomato’s disappearance, he defined, had led to hypothesis that he had eaten it in secret, thus consuming necessary scientific analysis in a match of need for contemporary produce whereas he was orbiting Earth.
“A proud second of harvesting the primary tomato in area grew to become a self-inflicted wound of dropping the primary tomato in area,” Mr. Rubio mentioned in an interview with NASA in October by which he mentioned his record-setting 371 days in area.
The thriller of the tomato was resolved, and Mr. Rubio’s title cleared, on Wednesday throughout a separate interview from the NASA Johnson Area Middle in Houston with the crew at present aboard the area station.
“Our good good friend Frank Rubio, who headed dwelling, has been blamed for fairly some time for consuming the tomato, however we will exonerate him,” mentioned Maj. Jasmin Moghbeli. “We discovered the tomato.”
Main Moghbeli didn’t describe the tomato’s situation or the place it had been discovered. NASA didn’t instantly reply to emailed questions on Monday.
The tomato was grown as a part of a mission to check how air- and water-based rising methods affected vegetation.
Mr. Rubio mentioned in an interview with NASA this 12 months that one in all his favourite science tasks on the area station was finding out the tomato plant. “I really like working with that little plant and seeing it develop and develop,” he mentioned.
Although the Worldwide Area Station is comparatively small, there may be loads of room for a tiny tomato to vanish. The area station is 356 ft lengthy and has six sleeping quarters, two loos and a fitness center, in accordance with NASA.
Then there may be the ceaseless expanse outdoors it. Maj. Moghbeli was one in all two astronauts who misplaced a device bag in area in November whereas performing upkeep on the area station.
Nobody had steered that the tomato was floating in area. As a substitute, the suspicion landed squarely on Mr. Rubio.
NASA’s deputy administrator, Pam Melroy, teased Mr. Rubio concerning the lacking tomato in September, asking if he had eaten it.
“I want I had at this level, as a result of I feel everyone thinks I did,” Mr. Rubio responded, laughing.
Again on Earth in October, Mr. Rubio mentioned in an interview with NASA that he had put the tomato in a bit of bag to indicate it to a bunch of scholars who have been about to have a name with one in all his crewmates.
“I used to be fairly assured that I Velcroed it the place I used to be alleged to Velcro it, after which I got here again and it was gone,” he mentioned.
Mr. Rubio then commenced a seek for the lacking tomato, which he estimated took between eight and 20 hours. “I wished to search out it principally so I may show, like, ‘I didn’t eat the tomato,’” he mentioned.
He guessed that the tomato had “desiccated to the purpose the place you couldn’t inform what it was” and will have been thrown away.
Mr. Rubio mentioned, “Hopefully, someone will discover it sometime, some little shriveled factor in a Ziploc bag, they usually can show the truth that I didn’t eat the tomato in area.”
