MANILA, Philippines — An astronaut of the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) on board the International Space Station (ISS) performed an experiment using a device developed by Filipino students that measured and maintained direction and balance, essential for spacecraft orientation.
In a statement on Friday, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) said the Double Gyroscope — developed by third-year students from the Rizal Technological University (RTU) as part of the 2025 Asian Try Zero-G (ATZG 2025) competition — was tested by Christopher Williams inside the Kibo module of the ISS on March 24, 2026.
The students hypthesized that spinning the double gyroscopes in opposite directions would create a stabilizing effect, but slight differences in their motion could gradually alter the system's orientation.
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.
