Editor: Matthew R Perry
Co-Editors: Alex Morgan, Mark V. Sykes
Email: pen_editor@psi.edu
X: @pen2tweets
Bluesky: @planetarynews.bsky.social

o-------------------------TABLE OF CONTENTS---------------------------o

1. The Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Fund Fall 2025 Travel Grant
2. Outer Worlds Survey
3. Navigating Uncertainty in Astrobiology: A Two-part Virtual Panel
   Series
4. Ice Giant Systems Seminar Series: October 14, Dr. Sophia
   Zomerdijk-Russell (NASA JPL)
5. Assistant Professor, Computational Earth and Planetary Materials,
   Stony Brook University
6. Last Call: Schweickart Prize Student Webinars on October 15 & 16
7. Spaceflight Operations Position at the Open University, UK
8. Planetary Meeting Calendar Additions
9. Planetary Science Journal - New Papers
10. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets - New Papers

Commercial/Fundraising Announcements:

C1. Intro to Astronaut Field Geology

o---------------------------------------------------------------------o

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THE GERALD A. SOFFEN MEMORIAL FUND FALL 2025 TRAVEL GRANT

The Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Fund is pleased to announce the Fall 2025
Travel Grant application opportunity for undergraduate and graduate
students pursuing studies in fields of space science and engineering.

The Travel Grants enable student recipients to attend professional
conferences to present their research. Recipients may use the Grant for
either virtual or in-person conferences. The Soffen Fund will award up
to $1000 in total, with no individual award greater than $500, to cover
expenses related to presenting research at either a virtual or
in-person conference. The number of awards will depend on applicants'
needs.

The Fall 2025 Travel Grant application deadline is October 17, 2025.

Jerry Soffen, a biologist by training, led a distinguished career in
NASA, including serving as the Project Scientist for Viking and as an
architect for the NASA Astrobiology Institute. The Travel Grant
continues Jerry's dedication to educating and involving future
generations in space science and engineering pursuits.

The electronic application materials and instructions are located on
the Soffen Fund website:

https://soffenfund.org

Questions regarding the application or application process may be sent
to:

ec@nasa-academy.org


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OUTER WORLDS SURVEY

My name is Jim Lyons, I am working on a Master's Thesis that is
evaluating criteria for selecting outer Solar System worlds for
extended human activity, assuming more advanced propulsion systems
exist that shorten the time of travel to them.

I have put together an anonymous 5 to 10-minute survey in Google Docs
asking for individuals to rate criteria of these worlds and I am
requesting for those receiving this newsletter to participate, if
possible.

The link to the survey is here:

https://tinyurl.com/4dwzdpbx

Thank you!


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NAVIGATING UNCERTAINTY IN ASTROBIOLOGY: A TWO-PART VIRTUAL PANEL SERIES

Join us for the second event in a two-part virtual panel series
featuring speakers who will share their experiences navigating
astrobiology careers in academia (part one, past event) and industry
(part two, this event). The discussion will explore how they got their
start at non-academic institutions and how changes at NASA and within
the astrobiology community have shaped their perspective on the future
for early-career researchers. The panel is designed for students,
postdocs, and junior researchers, but all are welcome to attend.

These panels are hosted by the early career groups associated with NASA
Astrobiology RCNs: NOW-FLOW, PCE3, LIFE, and NfoLD, plus the Scientific
Society for Astrobiology.

Distinguished Panelists for the Industry panel include: Loretta
Hildalgo Whitesides (SpaceKind), Graham Lau (Blue Marble Space
Institute of Science), Rachel RET Tillman (Viking Mars Missions
Education and Preservation Project), and Ruby Patterson (Crisium
Group).

Dates and Registration Links:

Part Two (Industry): Monday, October 20 at 2 pm ET.

Please register ahead of the events to receive the virtual connection
information:

https://forms.gle/hVUTKkLiPvoqQLYv9


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ICE GIANT SYSTEMS SEMINAR SERIES: OCTOBER 14, DR. SOPHIA
ZOMERDIJK-RUSSELL (NASA JPL)

Date/Time: October 14, 11am ET
Speaker: Dr. Sophia Zomerdijk-Russell (NASA JPL)
Topic: Ice Giants' Coupling with the Solar Wind Through Magnetic
       Reconnection Processes

The Ice Giant Systems Seminar Series showcases recent developments in
scientific topics covering all aspects of the ice giant systems,
including atmospheres, satellites, rings, magnetic fields, interior
structures, and science related to formation and evolution.

To access the virtual seminar, view the seminar schedule, and sign up
for the listserv, visit our newly redesigned series website:

https://icegiants.jhuapl.edu/Events-and-Updates/


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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COMPUTATIONAL EARTH AND PLANETARY MATERIALS, STONY
BROOK UNIVERSITY

The Department of Geosciences at Stony Brook University invites
applications for a full-time tenure-track faculty position at the
Assistant Professor level in computational Earth and planetary
materials. We seek a candidate with the potential to carry out a
program of research in the broadly-defined area of computational
materials chemistry with applications to the geosciences that may
complement one or more of the Department's current and traditional
research strengths, and who will be an effective teacher in
undergraduate and graduate courses. Details of the Department's areas
of research emphasis and current facilities can be found at:

https://stonybrook.edu/geosciences

Interested applicants can apply at:

https://apply.interfolio.com/173555


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LAST CALL: SCHWEICKART PRIZE STUDENT WEBINARS ON OCTOBER 15 & 16

Are you a graduate student or recent postgraduate fellow interested in
building bold ideas related to Planetary Defense? The Schweickart Prize
invites you to submit an innovative proposal for tackling challenges
like asteroid detection, impact mitigation, space law, or public
education.

The winner will receive a $10,000 USD cash award, a museum-quality
prize, public recognition through a press campaign, and mentorship from
the Prize Selection Committee, including Apollo 9 Astronaut Rusty
Schweickart.

To help applicants prepare, two information webinars with Q&A will be
held on October 15 and 16 at 9am PDT / 12pm EDT / 6pm CEST.
Participants will have the opportunity to hear insights from the
Schweickart Prize Committee as well as advice from the 2025 Schweickart
Prize Winner. RSVP here to receive more details:

https://bit.ly/4mymwht

Learn more about the prize at:

https://www.schweickartprize.org/

Sign up for prize updates:

https://bit.ly/3PKJvqJ


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SPACEFLIGHT OPERATIONS POSITION AT THE OPEN UNIVERSITY, UK

Do you like the idea of controlling spaceflight instruments that are
many millions of kilometres away?

If so, we are delighted to advertise a Spaceflight Instrument
Operations role. The group, led by Manish Patel at the Open University,
UK, are involved in a range of missions, including co-leading the NOMAD
spectrometer (ExoMars TGO), the CaSSIS stereo camera (also TGO), the
JANUS camera (JUICE) as well as leading future instrument developments
such as the ESA-funded Phase A study for a High-resolution Imager for
Mars Exploration (HiRIME).

This post relates to the operations planning and observation strategy
across the portfolio of spaceflight instruments that the group is
involved with, including live operations of active missions as well as
development of future operations strategies and systems.

Details here:

https://jobs.open.ac.uk/job/Spaceflight-Operations-Engineer/1103-en_GB/

Closing date for applications is Monday, 3 November at midnight
(UK time).

This is a 1-year post in the first instance, with the possibility of
longer-term continuation pending additional funding.

Come join our diverse, dynamic and daring group of scientists and
engineers that are exploring the Solar System whilst having a lot of
fun.


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PLANETARY MEETING CALENDAR ADDITIONS

Note: Many face-to-face meetings going forward will have online
components. Check their websites for details.

Posted at https://planetarynews.org/meetings.html

No new meetings posted.


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PLANETARY SCIENCE JOURNAL - NEW PAPERS

Direct Links to Open Access Papers
Editor, Faith Vilas

https://psj.aas.org

Deuterated Water Ice on the Satellites of Saturn
Michael E. Brown et al. 2025 PSJ 6:229
https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/adfbf5

Role of Natron in Delaying the Retreat of Buried Ice Tables on Ceres
Margaret E. Landis et al. 2025 PSJ 6:230
https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ae0333

Chemistry, Climate, and Transmission Spectra of TRAPPIST-1 e Explored
with a Multimodel Sparse Sampled Ensemble
Eric T. Wolf et al. 2025 PSJ 6:231
https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ae031e

The Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with
Rapidity (LISTER) on Blue Ghost Mission 1 to Mare Crisium. I.
Pneumatic Excavation of Regolith
S. Nagihara et al. 2025 PSJ 6:232
https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ae0465

Brownian Motion of Main-belt Asteroids on Human Timescales
Gary M. Bernstein 2025 PSJ 6:233
https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ae044f

Barnard Crater, Mars: Evidence of Glaciofluvial Activity in a Large,
High-latitude Impact Crater in Southern Hellas
Daniel C. Berman et al. 2025 PSJ 6:234
https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ae031d

Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Xenoliths and Phreatomagmatic Deposits
in Potrillo Volcanic Field, New Mexico, Determined from Portable
Instruments: Applications to Surface Exploration of the Moon and Mars
A. D. Rogers et al. 2025 PSJ 6:235
https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ae03af


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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH: PLANETS - NEW PAPERS

Direct Links to Open Access (OA) Papers
Editors-in-Chief, Amanda Hendrix & Debra Buczkowski

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/21699100

Global Picture of Lunar Basalt Chronology Based on the Automatic
Classification of Craters
Lan Jin et al.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JE008965

Laboratory Investigations of Flow Dynamics and Volume Growth During
Erosion of Different Substrates by CO2-Driven Granular Flows in Martian
Gullies
Lonneke Roelofs et al.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JE008993

Reconstructing the Early Flow and Deposition Geometry Through the
Accretion Surfaces on the Jezero Western Delta Fan, Mars
Kartikeya S. Sangwan, Joel M. Davis, Ekta Aggarwal
https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JE008866

Spatial and Temporal Extent of Plasma Depletion Events in the
Ionosphere of Mars
Praveen Basuvaraj et al.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JE008934

Antum Crater: A Window Into Ganymede's Icy Evolution
Federico Tosi et al.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JE009202

Spatial Variation of Rise Time and Dwell Time Induced by a
Hypervelocity Impact
Sowon Lee & B. C. Johnson
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JE009032

Elastic Properties of Returned Samples From Asteroid (162173) Ryugu
Keisuke Onodera et al.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JE008944

Impact Resurfacing of the Artemis Exploration Zone: Sample Locations
for Primordial Crust and South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Ejecta
T. Frueh et al.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JE009050

Magnetic Properties of Martian Impact Basins Including the Effect of
Mantle Excavation
S. C. Steele, R. R. Fu, J. M. D. Day
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JE009173


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COMMERCIAL/FUNDRAISING ANNOUNCEMENTS

***********************************************************************

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INTRO TO ASTRONAUT FIELD GEOLOGY

Due to HIGH DEMAND, we've opened more seats! Visit lunar and planetary
analog terrains where Apollo and Artemis astronauts have trained. Learn
to read the geologic landscape for any rocky planet (including the
Moon).

If you need to up your field geology and comparative planetology games,
then come on out to New Mexico with us--joined this year by astronaut
Chris Sembroski--this November 6-10. Prices start at $1299. Or, sponsor
an educator or student!

Register at:

https://www.areslearning.com/earthandspace

Contact Kirby or Mark with questions: kirby@planex.space or
mark@areslearning.com.


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