here's something you don't see every day

[tessa]

here is a picture of a tomato floating in space...taken from the international space station.

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/20...ato-Wakata.jpg



i wonder what other hi-jinx tomatoes can get up to in the 'off' season??

[ginger2778]

Love it!

Marsha

[ContainerTed]

Given the shape, color, and that slightly nippled blossom end, it looks like Iditarod Red from the Dwarf Project.

[Worth1]

Its not really floating in space.
It is a picture of a tomato floating inside the space station in front of a window.
If the tomato were outside the moisture would boil away in the vacuum.


Worth

[salix]

What Worth said...

I wonder if they have a 'grow-lab' up there or whether that is a 'long keeper' variety. When were they last supplied? In any case, I'm glad they get to eat tomatoes up there!

[ddsack]

Hmmm, it looks too perfectly symmetrical to be a real tomato. And I can't see enough depression at the stem end. Then again, maybe space floating reshapes them a bit, since they are mostly a liquid object -- and I've never grown Iditarod Red

[Got Worms?]

Not floating...It's falling through space, towards the earth, which is falling towards the sun, which is falling towards the center of the galaxy, which is falling towards the center of the universe, which is still expanding from the big bang...in theory.

Or....there is no tomato,...Matrix? no, because someone has already eaten it.

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by Worth1

If the tomato were outside the moisture would boil away in the vacuum.

Do you mean from the heat of the sun? (At least on the side the sun was hitting) Would it just freeze otherwise?

[Salsacharley]

It would need a TOMATO SPACE SUIT to survive outside the spacecraft.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Do you mean from the heat of the sun? (At least on the side the sun was hitting) Would it just freeze otherwise?

No in a vacuum water boils.
On Mount Everest's summit water will boil at around 158 degrees where the pressure is around 4.68 psi I think.
Out in space the temps can change drastically whether or not you are in the direct path of the sun or in the shade.
Such as on the shady or sunny side of the space station.
Here is a link to a chart that shows what boiling points are.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...,d.b2I&cad=rja

All in all we live in a very delicate environment here on earth.
Any small change could make this place uninhabitable.
This really didn't dawn on me till I started working above the arctic circle.
I have to tell you when that sun goes down for the winter it gets like no place else on earth.


Worth

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

It would need a TOMATO SPACE SUIT to survive outside the spacecraft.

I hope NASA doesn't read that.
They will spend millions on research and development on one.
Worth

[Salsacharley]

NASA probably won't read it, but NSA probably will.

[socalgardengal]

Too Funny!!!

I think the next logical question is "Where can I get some seed for those space tomatoes?".

Ted