Lost ISS Tomato Found After Eight Months, Exonerating Accused Astronaut

The rediscovered tomato, part of NASA's Veg-05 experiment, aims to advance understanding of plant growth in space.

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who was previously accused of eating a tomato grown on the International Space Station (ISS), has been exonerated after the missing tomato was found.
The tomato, part of the Veg-05 experiment, had been lost for eight months before being rediscovered.
Rubio had spent over a year in space, setting the record for the longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut.
The Veg-05 experiment aims to create a continuous fresh food production system to sustain astronauts traveling far beyond low-Earth orbit.
Despite the loss of the tomato, the experiment provided researchers with valuable data on plant growth under water stress, a common issue in spaceflight.