Welcome

Welcome to the SPACE Laboratory at ISAS! We are planetary scientists, geologists, and remote sensing experts.

As of now, we are looking for new graduate students and postdocs. Interested candidates with the departmental postdoctoral fellowship programs or ISAS graduate studies should consider applying, especially if research interests span multiple faculty. [Contact]

News

Suzuki's commentary on the results of comet observations by the Hisaki satellite is published in the Astronomical Herald. [Link][Article] [2025/04/19]

Sugahara was promoted to associate professor. [2025/04/01]

Yoshida joins our group. [Link] [2025/04/01]

Usui appeared on NHK's science program on March 28th. [Link] [2025/03/28]

Hirata reveived a doctoral degree. The title of her dissertation is "Igneous and surface processes producing Mercury's crustal diversity: Constraints from geomorphology, spectroscopy, and geochemistry of volcanic crusts."

Sugimoto reveived a master's degree. The title of her thesis is "A Study of Martian Cryosphere Based on Rampart Crater Morphology and Distribution."

[2025/03/24]

Rina Noguchi (a former postdoc and now an associate professor at Niigata University) appeared on NHK science news in March. [Link] [2025/03/21]

Suzuki is featured in a web media, Flasko. [Link] [2025/02/07]

Usui gave a presentation at the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations, entitled "Peaceful Applications of Space Rocks: JAXA's Contributions to Science and Humanity." [Link] [Presentation] [2025/02/05]

Mihira was selected for the FY2024 ARC-Space Overseas Travel Grants. [Link] [2024/12/27]

Sugahara is featured in JST News. [Link] [2024/11/01]

Highlights

Hirata's new article on Mercury's surface major element compositions is published in JGR: planets. [Link] [2025/04/03]

Suzuki's new article on Mercury's Mg exosphere revealed by BepiColombo's 2nd and 3rd Mercury swing-bys is published in JGR: planets. [Link] [2024/10/16]

Tabata's new article on iron redox geochemistry in paleo-Gale lake is published in GCA. [Link] [2024/08/06]

Sugahara's new paper about the adsorption of ammonia and its nitrogen K-edge XANES spectrum and 15N/14N-nitrogen isotopic fractionation is published in Analytical Sciences. [Link] [2024/02/05]

Fukai's new article on the curation protocol related to the MMX mission is published in Meteoritics & Planetary Science. [Link] [2024/01/11]

An article written by Sugahara et al. about planetary protection and contamination control at JAXA is posted on “thoughts related to the mission” in the ISAS website. [Link: JP only] [2024/01/10]

Hirata's new article on the elemental composition model of Phobos for MMX/MEGANE observations is published in Icarus. [Link] [2023/11/24]

Suzuki's new article on the relation between exospheric distribution and surface abundance on Mercury is published in EPSL. [Link] [2023/11/20]

Hirata is featured in ISAS GATE. [Link] [2023/09/15]

Usui talks about MMX at UCLA SPACE Institute and Meteoritical Society Symposium. [Video] [2023/08/16]