Bensemus t1_je20hu9 wrote
Reply to comment by remorsefulDownfall in ELI5 How do scientists know probes (Like Voyager I) aren't going to get swept up in the orbit of another celestial body? by remorsefulDownfall
In space unless you aimed REALLY well you aren't hitting anything. No matter how empty you think it is it's a billion times emptier.
They didn't do any crazy math to make sure they weren't going to hit anything. They did crazy math to make sure they got within very precise distances of each planet they visited to get a gravity assist. Each gravity assist sped up the probe until Voyager 1 was going about 17km/s and Voyager 2 was going about 15.5km/s. No rocket is capable of getting them to those crazy speeds.
After they each finished visiting planets they were on their way out of the solar system. There just isn't any risk of them crashing into anything.
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