UPLB student's 'zero-gravity experiment' performed on Int'l Space Station —PhilSA

A zero-gravity experiment by a University of the Philippines - Los Banos (UP-LB) student has been performed on the International Space Station (ISS), according to the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA).

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Dr. Koichi Wakata performed William Kevin Abran's proposal on the behavior of rotating dumbbell-shaped objects in space.

Abran, who is an Applied Physics student in UPLB, first demonstrated the experiment during the Asian Try Zero-G competition organized by the JAXA, where he was one of the six entries chosen to perform an experiment.

"I'm very honored to have my experiment conducted by Astronaut Koichi. The result was satisfying knowing that the dumbbell shapes behaved as predicted. Also, watching the experiments proposed by students from other countries gave me a new perspective about the microgravity environment," Abran said.

"Hopefully, this initiative inspires more students to continue doing research and be curious about the world around us," he added.

Abran also said that he is honored to have his experiment conducted by Koichi.

Meanwhile, PhilSA said Abran's experiment would help in the designs of spacecraft and offer a real-life example affirming the validity of Newton's Laws of Motion and Ehrenfest Theorem in microgravity.

A scientific paper discussing the experiment's results will be published, PhilSA added.—Sherylin Untalan/LDF, GMA Integrated News