multiply in weightlessness, looking forward to long-term spaceflight. Kusuma looked through Tupperware’s master database of about 10,000 molds and found a match. The normal Tupperware materials would not be hardy enough to withstand the rigors of space travel, so the company customized a special one for the ESA.
“It was the first time we had ever been connected to a spaceflight operation,” Kusuma said. “Every time the Tupperware container moved, I got an email like, ‘The TMA-6 has docked with the International Space Station, and the Tupperware container has been moved into the Aquarius Incubator aboard ISS!’”
David Kusuma
3.0, to be launched in early 2020, produced tomatoes in about 90 days and is being tested with other seeds. One of the team’s biggest thrills, Kusuma said, was sitting in with NASA personnel as they spoke with the astronauts on the space station. The Tupperware team was not able to ask direct questions but could have those questions relayed to the astronauts, whose answers were beamed back to Earth via video on a screen at KSC. “Tupperware had great interactions with both Techshot and NASA,” Kusuma said. One of the measures NASA uses to determine whether a project is successful is the ability for it to be commercialized to improve life on Earth. The space agency focuses on developing technologies that are for space use and research. The PONDS project could someday turn into a future line of products for Tupperware. “The greater opportunity is that we have a chance to look at how to use this technology in people’s homes,” Kusuma said. “People want fresh vegetables all the time but don’t necessarily 22 | SEPTEMBER 2019 | i4Biz.com
have a lot of space for growing them, especially in urban kitchens.”
A Long Journey This isn’t the first time Tupperware Brands has worked with NASA. The journey started about 15 years ago, when the company was invited to work with aerospace company Boeing to create storage systems inside Orion, the successor to the space shuttle, and new spacecraft designed to carry astronauts and cargo to the ISS and beyond. There was a cylindrical-shaped storage space below the floor of the crew cabin, and containers had to be pie-shaped to be lifted in and out of the vehicle through an airlock, Kusuma said. Boeing wasn’t selected for that project, so Tupperware’s role as a subcontractor partner was cut short. The next opportunity came in 2005 when the European Space Agency contacted Kusuma about a project involving the University of Udine in Italy. The ESA wanted a container that fit a very specific set of dimensions, and it would be going to the ISS aboard a Russian TMA-6 rocket. The container was to be used in stem cell research to determine how cells
The container’s mission lasted 10 days, and Kusuma recalls his phone ringing about two weeks later: “I actually got a call from the project administrator from the ESA. He said, ‘I’ve got your container here. Everything went well. Would you like it back, or can I sell it on eBay?’” Today the container sits in a display case in a hallway at the Tupperware Brands headquarters. Will a PONDS container also be on display there someday? It might be too early to say. For now, Tupperware continues to launch new innovations on Earth as well as in space. “Tupperware products have included smart technology features for nearly 70 years,” Kusuma said in a press release announcing the PONDS project. “Our product evolution goals have always been to meet today’s needs for consumers, whether that includes microwaveable grills or food processors that require no electricity; we are proud to now say that this includes sustainable vegetation growth in space. This has been one of our most exciting and unique collaborations, and we are honored to have worked alongside NASA and Techshot on the advancement and success of the PONDS project.” P
