the case of the lost space tomatoes

Those who read the book or watched the movie The Martian knows about the importance and difficulties of growing food in space:....

  .

...so on the international space station they grew some tomatoes. 

YEAH! 

but then: the tomatoes.... disappeared.

WTF?

then hurray they were found. Scitechdaily reports:.

 Astronaut Frank Rubio’s experiences with lost tomatoes and growing dwarf tomatoes highlight the challenges and advancements in space farming....

The experiment uses hydroponic and aeroponic techniques to grow plants without soil or other growth media and could provide suitable solutions for plant systems needed for future space exploration missions.,,, 

so voila: Space tomatoes.

But then a few went missing. Were they eaten? Inquiring minds want to know.

Alas, no: just mislaid. 

Two rogue tomatoes have been recovered nearly a year after astronaut Frank Rubio accidentally lost track of them while harvesting for the XROOTS experiment, proving Rubio did not eat the tomatoes as they previously suspected.

The rogue fruit was found in a plastic bag dehydrated and slightly squished with some discoloration but with no visible microbial or fungal growth.