Professor Shogo Tachibana of the UTOPS gave a public lecture at the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS), California Institute of Technology, on February 25.

In his lecture, titled “Sample Return Missions from Small Bodies — Hayabusa, Hayabusa2, and Beyond,” he introduced JAXA’s sample return missions and recent research on materials returned from small bodies in the Solar System.

After the lecture, he also met with students and early-career researchers and discussed ongoing research in planetary science.

For more details, please see here.

On February 21 (Sat.) and 22 (Sun.), 2026, we held an astronomy training for students from Ena High School in Gifu Prefecture. They estimated the distance to galaxies from photographs of galaxies and used the recession speeds of these galaxies to determine the age of the universe.

A research project involving members of the Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, has been selected under the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Space Strategy Fund (2nd Phase).

The project, titled “Development of a Flight Model for Water and Metal Element Exploration Equipment and Actual Measurement of Lunar Resource Quantities,” aims to establish technologies for exploring water and metallic elements as potential lunar resources. The project was officially approved on February 10, 2026, marking the launch of the LUNAR-RABBIT Project.

The research team will develop four observation instruments designed to measure the concentration and mineral composition of elements on the lunar surface. These instruments include a wide-angle spectroscopic camera, neutron and gamma-ray sensors, a laser-induced plasma emission spectrometer (LIBS), and a microscopic spectroscopic camera. By combining these technologies, the project aims to identify resource elements, evaluate their abundance, and determine how they are incorporated into lunar minerals.

In addition to resource exploration, the observation system is expected to contribute to the acquisition of lunar environmental data, including geological characteristics and radiation conditions relevant to future lunar exploration and infrastructure development.

Researchers from UTOPS are participating in the project as part of a broad industry–academia collaboration involving universities, research institutes, and private companies.

On January 31 (Sat.) and February 1 (Sun.), 2026, we held an astronomy training for students from Matsusho-Gakuen High School and Suwa-Seiryo High School in Nagano Prefecture and Nirasaki High School in Yamanashi Prefecture. They estimated the distance to galaxies from photographs of galaxies and used the recession speeds of these galaxies to determine the age of the universe.

On January 23, 2026, Professor Shogo Tachibana of the UTOPS visited Kuki Technical High School in Saitama Prefecture and gave a special class on space scienceto students in the Environmental Science Department and Industrial Chemistry Department.

During the session, he spoke broadly about space science, including topics related to the Hayabusa2 mission and current research in planetary science. The lecture also highlighted connections between high school science and cutting-edge research, including examples of analytical techniques and experiments used in planetary science.

Students had the opportunity to observe meteorite samples and a replica of the Hayabusa2 sampler, and actively participated in discussions and questions throughout the visit.

For more details, please see the following page on the Kuki Technical High School website:

https://kuki-th.spec.ed.jp/blogs/blog_entries/view/394/6315ed7419ce403093b92ba1e0e42aa7?frame_id=724