Short answers, pulled from the story.
Icarus is a scientific journal dedicated to planetary science. It publishes research on astronomy, geology, meteorology, physics, chemistry, and biology as they relate to the Solar System or extrasolar systems. It is officially endorsed by the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences.
Icarus was founded in 1962 by Academic Press. It became affiliated with the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences in 1974.
Icarus is named for the mythical figure who flew too close to the sun. The journal's frontispiece carries a quotation from Sir Arthur Eddington equating Icarus's adventurousness with the scientific investigator who "strains his theories to the breaking-point till the weak joints gape."
Carl Sagan served as editor of Icarus from 1968 to 1979. He was preceded by Albert G. Wilson and Zdeněk Kopal, who jointly edited the journal from its founding in 1962.
Icarus was originally published by Academic Press. Elsevier acquired Academic Press in 2000 and has published the journal since then.
Rosaly Lopes has been the editor of Icarus since 2018. She succeeded Philip D. Nicholson, who edited the journal from 1998 to 2018.