On August 4, 2025, sixteen students from Komatsu High School (Ishikawa Prefecture) visited UTOPS.
During their visit, they attended a mock lecture on unsolved problems in the Solar System and on the analysis of samples returned from asteroid Ryugu, followed by a tour of the laboratories.
The Tachibana Laboratory at UTOPS has signed a joint research agreement with ALE Co., Ltd. (https://star-ale.com/), a company whose mission is to “make space closer for all of us together”, for an exploration mission to the asteroid “99942 Apophis”.
[Comments]Shogo Tachibana, Professor, University of Tokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science (UTOPS), Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo:
“Recent missions such as Hayabusa2 and NASA’s OSIRIS-REx have shown that asteroid surfaces are highly diverse. This method will enable us to investigate the properties of surface materials at multiple locations on an asteroid. It is expected to contribute significantly to solar system science, planetary defense, and the utilization of space resources. The approach may also be applied to various future exploration missions, and I look forward to the progress of this joint research.”
For more details, please see here.
On January 23, 2024, Professor Shogo Tachibana of the University of Tokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science (UTOPS) gave a special lecture to fifth-grade students at Nakamura Elementary School in Nerima, Tokyo.
During the visit, he spoke about asteroid Ryugu and the Hayabusa2 mission, and taught classes for each group of students from the first through the fourth class periods, interacting with the energetic students throughout the day.
For photos and more details from the event, please visit the following webpage and look for the posts titled 「宇宙のお話１」 and 「宇宙のお話２」:
https://cms.nerima-tky.ed.jp/weblog/index.php?id=107&type=7&search_word=%B1%A7%C3%E8%A4%CE%A4%AA%CF%C3&search_option=0
On February 23, 2024, a public lecture by Professor Shogo Tachibana of the University of Tokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science (UTOPS) was held at the Hibiki Hall of Yumetarou Plaza (Taketoyo Community Arts Center) in Taketoyo, Aichi Prefecture.
The lecture, titled “Bringing Back Samples from Small Bodies: Ryugu, Bennu, and Beyond,” introduced recent progress in sample return missions from asteroids.
For more details, please see here.
The University of Tokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science (UTOPS) contributed to the special exhibition “Asteroid Itokawa and Ryugu Sample Exhibition in Akashi,” held from January 27 to February 18, 2024 in the Astronomy Gallery on the 3rd floor of the Akashi Municipal Planetarium.
The exhibition displayed samples from asteroid Itokawa, returned to Earth by the Hayabusa spacecraft in June 2010, and samples from asteroid Ryugu, returned by Hayabusa2 in December 2020.
In conjunction with the exhibition, Professor Shogo Tachibana gave a related public lecture titled “What the Stones from Asteroid Ryugu Have Begun to Tell Us” on January 28, 2024, at the planetarium dome on the 2nd floor of the museum.
For more details, please see here.
On August 2, 2024, students from Komatsu High School (Ishikawa Prefecture) visited UTOPS.
During their visit, they attended a mock lecture on the Hayabusa2 mission and on the analysis of rocks returned from asteroid Ryugu, followed by a tour of the laboratories.
On October 19, 2024, UTOPS hosted an outreach event titled “Let’s Make a Ryugu Bath Bomb!” on the Hongo Campus, inviting elementary and junior high school students and their parents.
During the event, participants learned about asteroid Ryugu and the Hayabusa2 mission, and then worked together to create bath bombs inspired by Ryugu.
On November 9, 2024, Professor Shogo Tachibana of the University of Tokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science (UTOPS) gave a talk on space science to sixth-grade students at Nakamura Elementary School in Nerima, Tokyo.
During the session, he revisited and expanded on topics previously discussed with the students in their fifth-grade classes, including asteroid Ryugu and the Hayabusa2 mission. He also answered a number of questions about space and Earth that had been submitted by the students in advance.
For photos and more details from the event, please see the following page:
https://cms.nerima-tky.ed.jp/swas/index.php?id=107&frame=weblog&type=1&column_id=358031&category_id=4846
