AN experiment led by students from Rizal Technological University (RTU) was successfully conducted onboard the International Space Station (ISS) by an astronaut from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
In a statement on Friday, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) said the Double Gyroscope experiment — developed by third-year Filipino students as part of the 2025 Asian Try Zero-G (ATZG 2025) competition — was performed by astronaut Christopher Williams inside the Kibo module of the ISS on March 24, 2026.
Gyroscopes are spinning devices used to measure and maintain direction and balance, essential for spacecraft orientation.
The team behind the experiment — Christopher Tumamac, Ryan Andrew Doña, and Rose Ann Cezar — designed the Double Gyroscope to demonstrate principles of spacecraft orientation in microgravity.
The students hypothesized that two spinning gyroscopes, placed at opposite ends of a stick, could stabilize or alter the system’s direction depending on their rotational dynamics.
The experiment is crucial as it aims to simulate how spacecraft maintain orientation in space, crucial for satellite and spacecraft operations.
Williams conducted multiple tests in microgravity to observe these dynamics, with results to be presented at the 2025 ATZG wrap-up session later this year.
The experiment was one of 11 finalists selected from countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.
These experiments were performed live on the ISS and streamed to the finalists at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Tsukuba Space Center in Ibaraki, Japan.
Doña and Tumamac presented their proposal at the Tsukuba Space Center before the experiment’s execution, with results aligning with their hypotheses.
The Philippines’ participation in the ATZG competition was facilitated by PhilSA.
“We are very thankful for this opportunity given to us by PhilSA, and we hope more Filipino students will apply in the next batches of ATZG to experience proposing experiments in zero gravity and seeing them carried out,” the team said.
Since 2022, experiments from Filipino students “have consistently been selected as ATZG finalists and carried out on the ISS by astronauts,” the agency said.