The Parker Solar Probe may have solved a Venusian mystery. <\/strong>The NASA mission passed by Venus on its way to its target, the Sun, in 2021. While nearby, the spacecraft collected data about Venus, which recently produced a new finding: that flashes of light observed in Venus\u2019 atmosphere might not be lightning, as previously thought; instead, they could be connected to disturbances in the magnetic fields surrounding the planet. Pictured: An artist\u2019s impression of the Parker Solar Probe passing Venus. Image credit: NASA\/Johns Hopkins APL\/Steve Gribben.<\/em><\/p>\n Psyche is set to launch next week. <\/strong>NASA\u2019s mission to a metallic asteroid of the same name is scheduled to lift off on Oct. 12, 2023 at 10:16 a.m. EDT (14:16 UTC). It will take six years for the Psyche spacecraft to reach its target, located in the outer reaches of the main asteroid belt. One of the mission\u2019s main objectives is to determine whether the unusual, metal asteroid Psyche is the core of an ancient, rocky world or a new type of object from the Solar System\u2019s early days.<\/p>\n New Horizons\u2019 mission has been extended. <\/strong>NASA announced this week that the mission\u2019s operations will continue until the spacecraft exits the Kuiper Belt, which is expected around the end of the decade. New Horizons will focus on collecting heliophysics data, much like NASA\u2019s Voyager probes did as they entered the interstellar medium.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Psyche\"](\"https:\/\/planetary.s3.amazonaws.com\/sites\/planetary\/images\/image_library_psyche.png\")
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