Stefania Soldini, PhD

Yesterday, 7th of June 2018, the images of Ryugu asteroid taken the 6th of June were released at the JAXA press conference. The images were taken from a distance of 2600 km from the asteroid. I was in the control room when the raw images were received. It is amazing to be part of #Hayabusa2 Team and look at something no one has ever seen before! Honored to be part of it! I can't describe my joy and this is just the beginning. The arrival date is confirmed to be around the 27t

Between the 11th and the 14th of May, Hayabusa2's star tracker has shot new images of Ryugu asteroid. The full article is available on Hayabusa2 web site in Japanese http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/topics/20180515/. I report here the images taken from Hayabusa2. The images were taken by stopping the ion engine phase and by changing the attitude of the spacecraft to point Ryugu. Currently new precise Ryugu orbit determination is under analysis to support the navigation. Support

Last year, I have been asked to contribute to an unusual science event. The Yokohama Theater Group and the Nerd Nite Tokyo came up with a "science x theater" initiative. I was one of the scientists involved in presenting my research within the Hayabusa2 Project to the general public. This was the first time that I officially became a manga character as you can see from the poster. The performance of my research was done by the 1740G. I was impressed from the results of the 17

Hayabusa2 is the Japanese asteroid sample and return exploration mission. Only two asteroid missions are currently into space to find out the origin of Life. Did Life on our planet start on its own? or Do comets and asteroids spread Life into the Universe by carrying "water" compound? Now JAXA Hayabusa2 mission and NASA OSIRIS-REx mission could help us to answer this existential question. Let's help scientists to "shape" Ryugu asteroid. Hayabusa2 spacecraft will arrive at the