(Web Desk) - America’s oldest serving astronaut, Don Pettit, shared a picture on X of a bizarre object with tentacles exploding out of it.
“Kill it with fire,” one person responded, while another comment read: “No way this is real!”
The purple egg-shaped object – that looks like it is from the poster for the 1979 horror “Alien” – is in fact a potato that Pettit grew on the International Space Station (ISS).
“Spudnik–1, an orbiting potato on the Space Station,” said the astronaut who has now spent a total of 590 days in space.
On X, Pettit explained how the potato actually ended up on the ISS.
“I flew potatoes on Expedition 72 for my space garden, an activity I did in my off-duty time,” he said.
“This is an early purple potato, complete with a spot of hook Velcro to anchor it in my improvised grow light terrarium.
“Potatoes are one of the most efficient plants based on edible nutrition to total plant mass (including roots).
“Recognised by Andy Weir in his book/movie ‘The Martian,’ potatoes will have a place in future exploration of space. So I thought it would be good to get started now!”
In response to the photograph, one fan asked Pettit how it compared to growing potatoes on Earth.
He explained: “The roots would grow in all directions absent gravity. All plants I have ever grown in space have grown far slower than they would have on Earth.”
While some social media users were freaked out about the potato, others saw the funny side.
“Someone needs to figure out a zero-g fryer asap,” one user wrote.
Another joked: “Bro, I genuinely thought this was some kind of egg hatching.”
To date, astronauts have grown a huge range of fruits, vegetables, and even flowers on the ISS.
They include three types of lettuce, Chinese cabbage, mizuna mustard, red Russian kale and zinnia flowers.