Orbital planes in the solar system

[Emil]

Dear fellow space enthusiasts!

I ahve a question for anyone who is familiar with the plantes of our solar system.

ARE THE ORBITS OF THE PLANETS OF OUR SOLARSYSTEM COPLANARY THE SAME ORBITAL PLANE AROUND THE SUN?

I am asking this question because I was thinking about the flight of the Pionneer and Voyager probes outside of the asteroid belt-and I kept wondering how those craft managed to fly through the steroid belt without smashing into the bodys of that area...
Then I must have said to myself-maybe the planets have different orbital planes and the probes neednt fly straight thru the asteroid belt...

Can anyone please solve this question for me?

 

[garyw]

The asteroid belt isn't like the asteroid belt in star wars. There is space between the asteroids. LOT'S of space.

You could fly through the belt and not sight a single rock.

 

[Urwumpe]

ARE THE ORBITS OF THE PLANETS OF OUR SOLARSYSTEM COPLANARY THE SAME ORBITAL PLANE AROUND THE SUN?

Pretty much yes, but practically not. The orbit planes can vary by up to 7° (Mercury).

I am asking this question because I was thinking about the flight of the Pionneer and Voyager probes outside of the asteroid belt-and I kept wondering how those craft managed to fly through the steroid belt without smashing into the bodys of that area...
Then I must have said to myself-maybe the planets have different orbital planes and the probes neednt fly straight thru the asteroid belt...

The average distance between two asteroids in the belt is about 750,000 km, that is twice the distance Earth-Moon. The orbit planes of the asteroids are not always so close to the ecliptic, but that is not the how the probes just pass through them. The asteroid belts are just a bit less empty than interplanetary space.

 

[Linguofreak]

A typical asteroid might be a few miles across. The nearest asteroid to any given asteroid, as Urwumpe said, is likely to be hundreds of thousands of miles away. In flying through the asteroid belt, you have to take careful aim just to get close enough to *see* an asteroid, let alone hit one.