Three Filipino astrophysics students from Rizal Technological University (RTU) have achieved a milestone few can claim: seeing their scientific experiment conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Christopher Tumamac, Ryan Andrew Doña and Rose Ann Cezar, all third-year astrophysics students, successfully sent their double gyroscope experiment into space after winning the 2025 Asian Try Zero-G (ATZG) competition organized by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Their team, Blue Stragglers, emerged as one of only 11 finalists selected from nearly 500 experiment proposals submitted by 1,176 applicants across nine participating countries and regions. Of the 89 entries from the Philippines, theirs was among the few that advanced to the final stage.

Their journey culminated on 24 March 2026, when NASA astronaut Christopher Williams conducted their experiment inside the Kibo module of the ISS.

For the students, the accomplishment was both exhilarating and humbling.

“It feels overwhelming because it was a big achievement and a big responsibility,” Cezar told DAILY TRIBUNE.

“It’s not just our name or the name of our university that we carried, but also the name of the Philippines.”

The space mission

The team's experiment centered on a simple but ambitious concept: a stick with two gyroscopes mounted on opposite ends.

What began as a classroom prototype evolved through months of collaboration and refinement under JAXA’s guidance. The final version was tested at Japan’s Tsukuba Space Center before being transported aboard the HTV-X1 cargo spacecraft to the ISS.