By Brian Campued
An experiment designed by Filipino students was recently carried out by a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The experiment, called the “Double Gyroscope,” was performed by NASA astronaut Christopher Williams inside the ISS Kibo module last March 24, the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) said in a press release Friday.
Developed by Christopher Tumamac, Ryan Andrew Doña, and Rose Ann Cezar—third-year astronomy students majoring in astrophysics at the Rizal Technological University (RTU)—the experiment focused on testing the behavior of spinning gyroscopes in a zero-gravity environment.
To observe the movement in zero gravity, Williams repeatedly conducted tests by spinning the gyroscopes, mounted at both ends of a stick, and observing their movements closely.
According to the state space agency, the RTU students “hypothesized that when the gyroscopes spin in opposite directions, their motion may cancel each other out, causing the system to appear stable or nearly motionless.”
“However, small differences in spinning could slowly change the direction the device points to over time.”
The Double Gyroscope “demonstrates a key principle used in spacecraft orientation, or how satellites and spacecraft control the direction they face in space,” the PhilSA said.
The RTU students’ entry was among the 11 experiments selected as finalists in the 2025 Asian Try Zero-G (ATZG) competition.
Created by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the ATZG competition invites students across the Asia-Pacific region to propose experiments that can be conducted in microgravity conditions.
Aside from the Philippines, Williams also performed experiments submitted by finalists from Australia, Bangladesh, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, aboard the ISS while being livestreamed.
Doña and Tumamac were able to present their experiment proposal at the JAXA Tsukuba Space Center in Ibaraki, Japan, before the live execution of their experiment.
Results from the experiment—which, according to PhilSA, successfully aligned with the hypotheses outlined by the RTU students—will be presented in the 2025 ATZG wrap-up session later this year.
Since 2022, PhilSA said experiments from Filipino students “have consistently been selected as ATZG finalists and carried out on the ISS by astronauts.”
-jpv
