Close encounters of the Martian kind are coming, beginning with the waning hours of Mon., July 30, leading into the best view of the Red Planet at 2:51 a.m. on July 31. For a few hours, Mars will be only 35.78 million miles from Earth.
That perspective won’t come again, by telescope or the naked eye, until Aug. 28, 2287 – almost 270 years from now. (Stargazers had a slightly closer look at Mars in the late summer of 2003.)