Netizens Terrified of What NASA Grew on the Space Station: A Potato

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Extraterrestrial horrors are growing on the International Space Station — or so aghast netizens seemed to believe.

Over the weekend, NASA astronaut Don Pettit shared an image of an egg-shaped object floating in the orbital outpost. Bursting through its surface were purple, tentacular protrusions, like a sign of life that some man-eating alien was incubating inside. A patch of perfectly white cilia grew elsewhere on its surface.

This mystifying object? A spud like any you’d find in your pantry.

“Spudnik-1, an orbiting potato on @Space_Station!” Pettit cheerily captioned the shot.

Spudnik-1, an orbiting potato on @Space_Station!

I flew potatoes on Expedition 72 for my space garden, an activity I did in my off-duty time. This is an early purple potato, complete with spot of hook Velcro to anchor it in my improvised grow light terrarium.

Potatoes are one… pic.twitter.com/MXsoV20vJ8 — Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) March 20, 2026

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