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NASA astronaut Frank Rubio returned to earth in September after the longest space mission for an American astronaut and had to face a small red mark on his legacy: He lost a tomato somewhere to the International Space Station.
The disappearance of the tomato, he explained, led to the speculation that he ate it in secret, and applied important scientific research to a need for new fruits as he traveled the world.
“A proud moment of harvesting the first tomato in space became the wound that caused the loss of the first tomato in space,” Mr. Rubio said in an interview with NASA in October where he discussed his record of 371 days in space.
The mystery of the tomato was solved, and Mr. Rubio’s name was cleared, on Wednesday during a separate interview from the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston and the crew on the space station.
“Our good friend Frank Rubio, who went to the house, has long been accused of eating the tomato, but we can free him,” said Maj. Jasmin Moghbeli. “We found the tomato.”
Major Moghbeli did not explain the condition of the tomato or where it was found. NASA did not immediately respond to emailed questions on Monday.
The tomato was planted as part of a project to study how plants are affected by air and water through planting.
Mr. said Rubio in an interview with NASA this year one of his favorite scientific projects in space is studying the tomato plant. “I like to work on that little plant and see it grow and grow,” he said.
Although the International Space Station is small, there is a lot of room for a small tomato to disappear. The open space is 356 feet long and has six bedrooms, two bathrooms and a gym. according to NASA.
Then there is the endless space outside. Maj. Moghbeli was one of two astronauts who lost an instrument bag in space in November while performing maintenance on the space station.
No one suggested that the tomato was floating in space. Instead, the suspicion fell directly on Mr. Rubio.
The deputy administrator of NASA, Pam Melroy, joked to Mr. Rubio about the missing tomato in Septemberand asked if he had eaten.
“I wish I was here now, because I think everyone thinks I did it,” answered Mr. Rubio, laughing.
Back in October, Mr. Rubio in an interview with NASA said he put the tomato in a small bag to show a group of students about to make a phone call with one of his crew.
“I was pretty sure I Velcroed where I needed to Velcro, and then I came back and it was gone,” he said.
Mr. Rubio then began his search for the lost tomato, which he estimated would take between eight and 20 hours. “I mostly wanted to find out so I could prove it, like, ‘I didn’t eat the tomato,'” he said.
He guessed that the tomato was “withered to the point where you don’t know what it is” and would have thrown it away.
Said Mr. Rubio, “Hopefully, one day someone will find a little itchy thing in a Ziploc bag, and they can prove the fact that I didn’t eat tomatoes in space.”