Asian Try Zero-G 2025 in-orbit experiments conducted in Kibo

On March 24, 2026, in-orbit experiments for Asian Try Zero-G 2025, a simple physics experiment program for young people, were conducted in the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" on the International Space Station (ISS).

Asian Try Zero-G is conducted under the framework of the Asian Beneficial Collaboration through Kibo Utilization (Kibo-ABC), a cooperative initiative in the Asia-Pacific region utilizing the Kibo module. It provides opportunities for astronauts to conduct in-orbit experiments based on the simple space experiment ideas proposed by students from various countries and region.
Interest in the program continues to grow. Asian Try Zero-G 2025 received a record number of applications—approximately double that of the previous call for proposals.

The in-orbit experiments were conducted by NASA astronaut Christopher Williams.
The event was held in a hybrid format, combining in-person attendance at the Tsukuba Space Center with an online broadcast. The participating students first gave presentations on their proposed experiments and then watched the experiments being conducted in space in real time.

The first experiment conducted was “Dynamics of Liquid Bridges in Microgravity”. A water droplet was sandwiched between two aluminum blocks, and the behavior of the liquid bridge was observed as the distance between the blocks was varied. The team also compared the results when one of the aluminum blocks was replaced with a plastic block.
Under all conditions, the water behaved almost like an adhesive, forming liquid bridges much longer than those typically observed in ground-based experiments. The students expressed great interest in further analysis of how the materials affected the length and shape of the liquid bridge.

The next experiment was “Shaping Water Droplets in Microgravity Using Thin Copper Wires”. Water was suspended in a film-like state inside wires bent into heart, triangle, and square shapes to observe their formations and how well they maintained their shapes.
As expected, the water was held along the contours of the wire shapes. However, it also formed shapes unique to a microgravity environment, such as the central portion swelling into a sphere, which drew surprised reactions from the participants.

In the experiments “Water Spring” and “The Liquid Waltz: Observing Fluid Dynamics in a Dancing Slinky”, water was placed inside a Slinky (a spring-like toy) to observe its behavior when the toy was spun or stretched.
Instead of splashing outward, the water remained contained within the Slinky and, unexpectedly, maintained a nearly spherical shape. The students watched the results with great interest.

In the experiments “Studying the Behavior of Simple Harmonic Motion in the Spring in Microgravity Conditions” and “Investigating Harmonic Motion and Damping Effects in Microgravity”, a weight was attached between two springs with a string tied to it to observe its oscillatory behavior. However, capturing clean oscillations proved difficult, prompting the astronaut to repeatedly adjust his approach, such as straightening the string or releasing it as gently as possible, to carry out the experiment multiple times.
The experiment was conducted under two different conditions: one where the spring constants of the upper and lower springs were identical, and another where they differed. The resulting oscillatory behaviors were distinct from those observed on Earth and surprised the students watching the experiment.

Two experiments using paper airplanes were conducted based on questions proposed by Japanese students: “Do the Wingtip Vortices of Paper Airplane Come from the Gravity?” and “Is a Paper Airplane able to Fly Despite of Wing Imbalances under Zero Gravity?” In the first experiment, thin flat plastic strings were attached to the edges of the wings of a paper airplane to verify whether wingtip vortices would be generated. As the paper airplane floated gently upward, the strings could be seen twisting into vortices, demonstrating that wingtip vortices are indeed generated, contrary to prior expectations.
In the second experiment, weights were attached to both wings of a paper airplane to investigate how mass imbalance affects its flight direction and movement. Adding the weights caused the paper airplane to move in a forward-tumbling, flipping motion rather than flying straight. The students carefully examined each result and its implications.

In the experiment “How Uneven Mass Dispersion Affects the Rotation of a Rigid Structure with 3 Distinct Axes of Rotation”, two rods with balls of different materials and masses attached to their ends, called rotators, were combined, and their behavior was observed when rotated around three different axes.
The behavior changed depending on the materials of the balls and the direction of rotation, with some cases even resulting in unstable rotations, which drew cheers from the participants.

In the experiment “Conservation of Angular Momentum”, an aluminum sphere attached to the end of a string was rotated to verify the relationship between its orbital radius and rotational speed.
Although it was expected that the rotation would speed up as the radius decreased, it was observed to slow down gradually. The students looked on with puzzled expressions, though they still seemed to be looking forward to the upcoming analysis.

In the final experiment, “Double Gyroscopes”, two gyroscopes attached to both ends of a rod were spun to observe their behavior. When both gyroscopes rotated in the same direction, the apparatus remained stably suspended. However, when they rotated in opposite directions, the apparatus exhibited behavior similar to that of a spinning top, with its rotational axis tracing circular motions. The students watching through the screen appeared excited to see the expected textbook result.

The experiments for all 11 themes were conducted over the course of about two and a half hours, and at the end, Astronaut Christopher Williams delivered the following message to the students: