{"id":348521,"date":"2026-03-26T08:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T08:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/348521\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T08:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T08:28:08","slug":"nasa-astronaut-shares-new-photo-of-twisted-purple-growth-on-board-international-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/348521\/","title":{"rendered":"Nasa astronaut shares new photo of twisted purple growth on board International Space Station"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Nasa astronaut has shared a photo of a bizarre looking twisted purple growth from on board the International Space Station (ISS).<\/p>\n

Don Pettit, a chemical engineer and Nasa’s oldest astronaut in space, snapped the photo during Expedition 72, which spanned from September 23 2024 until April 18 2025.<\/p>\n

Social media users were left puzzled by a purple-black tentacle-like protrusion at the heart of the photo.<\/p>\n

But the reality of Mr Pettit’s image was far more mundane: a potato.<\/p>\n

The astronaut said the potato had been named Spudnik-1 – after the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik.<\/p>\n

When he shared it online, a commentator joked it looked like a “mimic hatching out of an egg,” a reference to the 2017 science fiction video game Prey.<\/p>\n

He said: “I flew potatoes on Expedition 72 for my space garden, an activity I did in my off-duty time.<\/p>\n

“This is an early purple potato, complete with spot of hook Velcro to anchor it in my improvised grow light terrarium.”<\/p>\n

Mr Pettit explained why he took his off-duty time to study potatoes.<\/p>\n

\"Space<\/p>\n

The potato, nicknamed Spudnik-1, has a purple root protruding from it and velcro attached to it<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

NASA\/DON PETTIT<\/p>\n

He added: “Potatoes are one of the most efficient plants based on edible nutrition to total plant mass (including roots).<\/p>\n

“Recognised by Andy Weir in his book\/movie ‘The Martian’, potatoes will have a place in future exploration of space.<\/p>\n

“So I thought it good to get started now!”<\/p>\n

In the film The Martian, adapted from the book of the same name, Matt Damon portrays biologist Mark Watney who successfully grows potatoes on Mars to eat.<\/p>\n

LATEST FROM OUTSIDE OUR ATMOSPHERE:<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Don Pettit grew plants in his free time onboard the ISS – which he said all grow more slowly than on Earth<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

NASA\/DON PETTIT<\/p>\n

A recent study has shown potatoes could grow on the Moon, with the help of human waste and compost originating from Earth.<\/p>\n

One fan asked Mr Pettit, also known for his photography, how it compared to growing potatoes on Earth.<\/p>\n

He responded: “The roots would grow in all directions absent gravity, and all plants I have ever grown in space have grown far slower than they would have on Earth.”<\/p>\n

Responding to another social media user, Mr Pettit said he was unsure why plants grow slower, but said it was likely “stress-induced”.<\/p>\n

\"Don<\/p>\n

Don Pettit is a chemical engineer and known for his astrophotography, which he often shares on social media<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

NASA<\/p>\n

Astronauts have tested growing a number of fruits, vegetables and flowers on the ISS.<\/p>\n

Foods successfully grown by the agency include lettuce, Chinese cabbage, mizuna mustard, red Russian kale and zinnia flowers.<\/p>\n

Nasa has said more produce is planned to be planted in the future, including tomatoes and peppers.<\/p>\n

Antioxidant-rich foods such as berries could also be useful in astronaut diets, with the added benefit of providing some protection against space radiation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Nasa astronaut has shared a photo of a bizarre looking twisted purple growth from on board the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-348521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}