NASA astronaut Don Pettit is arguably one of the best photographers to have flown in space.
Since his first mission beginning in 2002, Pettit has racked up four separate journeys into space, amounting to a total of 590 days in Earth-orbit.
More photos from space
And in that time, Don Pettit has captured some pretty amazing photos from the vantage point of hurtling around our home planet in a spaceship.
He's captured comets from space, including C/2024 G3 and C/2023 A3, and also photographed the October 2024 aurora display from space.
Pettit's space portfolio is pretty awe-inspiring. But one of his most recent images left many on the internet in a state of puzzle, and has caused quite a stir.
The strange-looking object below doesn't seem very familiar at first.
Perhaps as a result of the re-emergence of the Alien sci-fi horror franchise into popular consciousness, it does initially look like some sort of weird egg.
It even has strange tentacle-like features protruding from it, as though an alien creature were bursting out.
That's all, of course, unless you take a few seconds to properly inspect the photo, after which you'll likely conclude it is, in fact, a potato.
Growing food in space and on bodies like the Moon and Mars is becoming increasingly important, as both NASA and the Chinese space agency seek to build permanent settlements on the lunar surface and put human feet on the Red Planet.
Pettit seems to have been inspired in his potato-growing antics by 'The Martian', the famous book by Andy Weir – and adapted into a Hollywood blockbuster – in which an astronaut stranded on Mars must learn to grow his own food while he awaits rescue.
Pettit flew potatoes during Expedition 72, a long-duration mission on the International Space Station that lasted about seven months between September 2024 and April 2025.
He shared this image of the purple potato on X channel on 20 March 2026.
The strange purple colour might not be what many of us expect in a potato, but there do exist purple varieties of the beloved tuber, and the odd hue is nothing to do with it having been grown in space.
"Spudnik-1, an orbiting potato on the International Space Station," Pettit posted, in reference to Sputnik-1, humanity's first artificial satellite, which was launched by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957.
"I flew potatoes on Expedition 72 for my space garden, an activity I did in my off-duty time," Pettit posted on X.
"This is an early purple potato, complete with 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).
"Recognized by Andy Weir in his book/movie "The Martian," potatoes will have a place in future exploration of space. So I thought it good to get started now!"
