... What's New? Bad Astronomy . ... Keep Bad Astronomy close to your heart, and help make me filthy rich. ... On August 27, 2003, at 9:51 Universal (Greenwich) Time, Mars will be making its closest approach to Earth for quite some time. ... A lot of astronomers and news media are saying about how close it will be and how big it will look, but they are leaving out two crucial facts: Mars will be nearly 56 million kilometers away, and it's only fractionally closer than the last favorable pass. ...