By John Anton Garcia

PHOTO: Esquire Mag PH

The experiment proposal submitted by a Filipino university student was recognized as an esteemed entry to an international competition organized by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), reported the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) last June 27.

JAXA recognized William Kevin Abran of the University of the Philippines Los Banos and his entry entitled “Rotation of Dumbbell-shaped objects in Space” as one of the six experiments to be performed on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Asian Try Zero-G (ATZG) 2022.

This year’s edition of ATZG further recognized 24 finalists from the received 201 submissions from 480 students and young engineers around the continent, as PhilSA led the call for entries in the country last May.

The competition is part of the Kibo-ABC program that intends to expand the utility of the Japanese Experiment Module in the ISS, nicknamed “Kibo”, as a means to engage the youth’s interest in space environments through their involvement in science initiatives.

After careful evaluation of all entries on the basis of significance, novelty, safety, resource requirement, and feasibility, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata is set to perform the selected experiments starting this September 2022.