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A new mission will create an artificial solar eclipse in space. ESA’s Proba-3 mission launched today, beginning its mission to study the Sun’s corona. Proba-3 is a novel kind of mission in which a pair of spacecraft will fly in precise formation to create an artificial eclipse, lining up perfectly with the Sun so that one spacecraft’s shadow is cast on the other. This will allow the trailing spacecraft to study the Sun’s corona. Pictured: An artist’s impression of the mission. Image credit: ESA.

Venus may not have had a watery past after all. New research from the University of Cambridge suggests that Venus’ interior is too dry today for oceans to have ever existed on its surface. If confirmed, this would mean that Venus has been a dry, inhospitable planet throughout its history instead of having had a period in which life on the surface could have been possible.

NASA has provided more insight into its decision to cancel VIPER. In response to a request from Congress, NASA explained that, according to their calculations, launching VIPER in September 2025 as planned would have resulted in the cancellation of up to four commercial lunar lander missions and the delay of up to four more.

VERITAS is back on track, but another potential delay looms. The NASA mission to Venus was delayed by three years in 2023 because of workforce issues at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and work on the mission was paused in fiscal year 2024. Although the VERITAS team is now working on the mission again, they are concerned that NASA may seek to further delay the launch from 2031 to 2032.

Carol (Cari) Sagan Greene, Carl Sagan’s sister, recently passed away. Cari was a social worker, a dedicated volunteer, a leader in her community, and a great friend to The Planetary Society. She donated bone marrow three times to prolong Carl’s life when he was battling myelodysplastic syndrome, showing astonishing dedication to her brother.

Jared Isaacman will be the next NASA administrator. President-elect Donald Trump announced this week that Jared Isaacman, a billionaire who has commanded two SpaceX commercial spaceflights, is his nomination. Planetary Society Chief of Space Policy Casey Dreier has provided an early analysis of this choice and what it could mean for space exploration.

Looking back on 100 weeks of space exploration. Planetary Radio Host Sarah Al-Ahmed marked her 100th episode this week with a look back at the defining moments of the past 100 weeks of space exploration, revisiting interviews with the people behind the missions that have defined the last two years. Pictured: The capsule containing the sample that NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission returned from the asteroid Bennu in September 2023, one of the moments highlighted in this episode. Image credit: NASA/Keegan Barber.

Learn about stargazing from an astrophysicist. The Planetary Society’s Science Editor Asa Stahl is the host of our new, members-only online course, Stargazing 101. He also happens to be an astrophysicist. He joined host Mat Kaplan in the latest edition of Planetary People to talk about his path from research to sharing the wonders of science and the sky. Watch the video recording here.

Looking for space-themed gifts? Check out our Space Bazaar. The Planetary Society’s member community has its own little marketplace for space-themed goods, all from our creative members. Check out what’s for sale in the Space Bazaar today. If you’re a seller, you can submit your listings once a month. The Space Bazaar is only available to Planetary Society members, so if you aren’t already a member, join today! For even more gift ideas, check out our 2024 holiday gift guide.

Announcing the December book club pick! This month, Planetary Society book club members will be reading “Project Solar Sail,” an anthology of stories, essays, and illustrations exploring the topic of solar sailing. Included among the selections is an article from Planetary Society Chief Scientist Bruce Betts about our LightSail program. At our December book club meeting, Planetary Society members will chat with science fiction author, futurist, astrophysicist, and Planetary Society Advisory Council member David Brin, who is one of the editors of the anthology.