Missing ``space tomatoes'' discovered on International Space Station, clearing suspicion of astronaut stealing tomatoes after 8 months


by NASA Johnson

``Space tomatoes'' that were harvested on the International Space Station (ISS) and went missing have been discovered after eight months. The astronaut who harvested the tomatoes was suspected of stealing tomatoes, but the discovery of the tomatoes proved that he had not stolen them.

Space station astronauts solve the mystery of a missing tomato : NPR
https://www.npr.org/2023/12/10/1218418262/missing-tomato-international-space-station

Vegetable cultivation experiments are being conducted on the ISS to support food supplies during space missions and to provide fresh food on Mars. The space-grown tomatoes discovered this time were cultivated in the cultivation experiment project ' Veg-05 ,' and the experimental results are useful not only in space, but also on Earth, such as 'elderly people who cannot go out to the garden can enjoy gardening indoors.' It was hoped that this method could be applied to cultivation in limited environments.

The following post posted by astronaut Koichi Wakata on February 26, 2023 records the state of tomato cultivation at Veg-05.




Later, on March 29, 2023, the official ISS did.




However, it seems that the harvested tomatoes went missing before they could be saved as samples. For this reason, astronaut Frank Rubio , who was in charge of harvesting, was suspected of stealing tomatoes. After returning to Earth, Rubio was asked about tomatoes at a press conference held on October 14, 2023, and answered, ``When we harvested tomatoes, other astronauts had video calls with children on Earth. So I thought it would be fun to show them the first tomato harvested in space. They had Velcro to hold it in place, but when they came back, it was gone. I spent 8 to 20 hours searching, but I couldn't find a tomato. I'm sure many people are thinking, ``He ate a tomato.'' (Laughs) ``Maybe that's what a tomato is.'' It would be so dry that you wouldn't even know it was there. Someone might have mistaken it for the garbage and thrown it away. If I could find a Ziploc with a small shriveled object in it, that would prove the fact that I wasn't eating tomatoes. He denied the allegation of stealing tomatoes. Mr. Rubio's statement can be confirmed from around 14 minutes 15 seconds in the following movie.

Astronaut Frank Rubio's Post-Flight Update (Official NASA Briefing) - YouTube


The tomatoes that Mr. Rubio harvested had been missing for a long time, but in an interview commemorating the 25th anniversary of the start of ISS construction conducted on December 7, 2023, Jasmine , an astronaut staying on the ISS, 'Our friend may have found something he lost,' Mogbeli said. 'Frank Rubio has been blamed for eating tomatoes for a long time since he returned to Earth, but we believe he is innocent.' I can prove that.'' Mr. Rubio revealed that he had discovered a tomato harvested from space. Mr. Mogbeli's statement can be confirmed from around 16 minutes 29 seconds of the following movie.

Astronauts Talk with NASA Leadership for Space Station's 25th Anniversary - Dec. 6, 2023 - YouTube


In addition to tomatoes, lettuce and chili peppersare grown on the ISS, and several astronauts are already eating space-grown crops.

Astronaut eats tacos using ``chili peppers grown on the International Space Station'' for the first time in history - GIGAZINE



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