It was more the math itself and the simulations and that kind of thing that I was looking for, but I probably could've made that more clear, sorry. I appreciate your answer though, the exact vastness wasn't something that dawned on me outside of basic planetary science taught in school.
I don't know how to give best answer of if that's even a power that I have on my post but this is definitely it so far, thank you! This is exactly the type of comprehensive breakdown that I was looking for.
Sure but just because it's unlikely for a commet or asteroid to hit them or something doesn't mean that it's impossible, did they do anything with the orbital paths of the planets around the sun to know that when they launched it it wasn't going to be swept into the orbit of another planet? If so, what did they do?
remorsefulDownfall OP t1_je2049y wrote
Reply to comment by RadiatedEarth 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
It was more the math itself and the simulations and that kind of thing that I was looking for, but I probably could've made that more clear, sorry. I appreciate your answer though, the exact vastness wasn't something that dawned on me outside of basic planetary science taught in school.