Pocok5 t1_je21hqt wrote on March 28, 2023 at 9:00 PM

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

Planets are hard to miss and they do not take unexpected turns like some drunk git on a highway. If you know where Mars is now and its velocity, you can predict where it'll be in exactly a thousand years, probably down to a few tens of meters of accuracy.

Menolith t1_je243jg wrote on March 28, 2023 at 9:17 PM

The rotation can sometimes be surprisingly chaotic, though. Saturn's moon Hyperion wobbles so wildly that it was impossible to plan for a probe flyby to cover unexplored areas.