Tomatoes missing in space found after nearly a year, NASA shares video

The rogue tomatoes had become "dehydrated and slightly squished”, NASA said. (Image credit: nasa.gov)

Two tomatoes that went missing in space were found last week almost a year after a NASA astronaut lost them while performing a soil-less harvesting experiment aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said.

During his 371-day mission, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio had accidentally lost track of the two tomatoes while he was conducting the eXposed Root On-Orbit Test System (XROOTS) experiment on ISS in 2022.

The two tomatoes, which had come loose from the plant, were stored in a plastic bag by Rubio. He ended up misplacing the plastic bag.

“I spent eight to 20 hours of my time looking for that tomato. A lot of people were like, ‘he probably ate the tomato’,” he said. Rubio, however, was desperate to fine the missing tomatoes and prove that he did not eat them.

Months after he returned to Earth, another NASA crew closed the peculiar case by finding the plastic bag with the tomatoes inside it.

By then, the rogue tomatoes had become “dehydrated and slightly squished”, a photo of which the premium space agency shared. Other than some discoloration, it had no visible microbial or fungal growth, NASA said.

One small step for tomatoes, one giant leap for plant-kind.

Two rogue tomatoes were recovered after roaming on station for nearly a year. NASA Astronaut Frank Rubio accidentally lost the fruit while harvesting for XROOTS, a soil-less plant experiment. https://t.co/ymAP24fxaX pic.twitter.com/AeIV8i6QKR

— ISS Research (@ISS_Research) December 14, 2023

The two tomatoes will not be brought back to Earth for analysis as they have already been discarded in space.

NASA's XROOTS experiment uses hydroponic and aeroponic techniques to grow plants without soil or other growth media and was done as part of the agency's aim to find solutions for plant systems needed for future space exploration missions.

Apart from this experiment, Rubio also conducted another experiment aimed to address the need for a continuous fresh-food production system in space. This experiment used the the International Space Station's vegetable facility "to grow dwarf tomatoes focusing on the impact of light quality and fertilizer on fruit production, microbial food safety, nutritional value, and taste acceptability by the crew", NASA said.