Chapter 38, Icebergs of Space Summary

Captain Smith grants an interview with Victor Willis. Willis asks the Captain about the asteroid belt and how dangerous space travel is when surrounded by large rocks. Captain Smith answers that the chances of colliding with an asteroid is about the same as being hit by lightening on Earth. Willis presses the matter by comparing the asteroid belt with icebergs in the North Atlantic, such as the one that sunk Titanic. He points out that the skipper of the Titanic was also named Captain Smith.

Chapter 38, Icebergs of Space Analysis

The asteroid belt seems like a problem for space travel in that the area has more objects orbiting the Sun than other parts of the Solar System. However, the mathematical probability of colliding with an uncharted asteroid is small, being that huge relative distances separate the bodies...