After eight months of speculation and good-natured ribbing, the missing tomato aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has finally been found! The tiny Red Robin dwarf tomato, which NASA astronaut Frank Rubio accidentally misplaced in March, turned up on December 6th to the delight of the crew.
“Our good friend Frank Rubio was jokingly blamed for eating the tomato, but we can finally exonerate him. We found it!” announced NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli during a live-streamed event celebrating the ISS’s 25th anniversary.
The tomato’s disappearance became an inside joke among the crew. The 1-inch wonder was part of the Veg-05 experiment, meticulously nurtured by Rubio himself. Unfortunately, his share, stored in a Ziploc bag, floated away before he could enjoy a bite.
During a September event marking his record-breaking year in space, Rubio jokingly lamented about the missing fruit. “I spent hours searching for it,” he said, “I’m sure it will vindicate me someday!”
In the vastness of the ISS, larger than a six-bedroom house, things can easily get lost. Microgravity allows objects to float into unexpected corners, making retrieval a challenge. While NASA usually checks vent intakes for missing items, the station’s 25-year history means things can easily get misplaced.
Even after his return to Earth in October, Rubio remained hopeful the tomato would be found. “Despite 18-20 hours of searching, it remained lost,” he explained. “With 17% humidity on the station, it’s probably dried up beyond recognition.”
But fate had other plans. The lost tomato’s reappearance serves as a reminder of the challenges and triumphs of life in space. It also highlights the importance of resourcefulness and resilience in the face of unexpected events, even when it comes to something as seemingly insignificant as a tiny tomato.
