|
|
The Question
(Submitted January 08, 1998)
My friend and I were wondering how do scientists get the
space probes that search other planets, like Voyager etc.
through the asteroid belt? If the probes went through the
asteroid belt wouldn't they get hit by a rock and get
damaged?
The Answer
Planetary probes can pass through the asteroid belt without any problem
because, unlike in the movies, there is really a LOT of space between
asteroids. More than 7000 have been discovered and several hundred
new ones are found every year. There are probably millions of asteroids of
various size, but those in the asteroid belt are spread over a ring that
is more than a billion kilometers in circumference, more than 100 million
kilometers wide, and millions of kilometers thick. For more information,
you can look at
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/asteroids.html
Thanks for your questions
Eric Christian
for Ask a High-Energy Astronomer
Questions on this topic are no longer responded to by the "Ask a
High-Energy Astronomer" service. See http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/ask_an_astronomer.html
for help on other astronomy Q&A services.
|
