The Planet Mars

[Lopeover]

Mars will be coming close to Earth on it's orbit around the sun. I have heard that this happens once every 50,000 years. Does anyone know if scientists expect this to have any affect on the Earth?

[DoctorDoom]

Astrologers no doubt will say that it will. However, the effect of a rock with a mass of 0.107 times Earth that's 33.86 million miles away (the closest it ever gets to earth) is minimal.

To put it in perspective, Mars is only 8.7 times as massive as the moon and is about 142 times farther away. Gravity follows the inverse square law. 142² = 20,164. Ergo, Mars will have 8.7/20164 = 0.043% of the effect of the moon.

Don't lose sleep over it. http://freeconservatives.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/icon73.gif