Right now, Mars is about 77 million kilometres from us, coming ever closer until May 30, when the red planet passes within 75.3 million kilometres. On Sunday morning, Mars, Earth and the sun will line up perfectly in the sky. On Thursday, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore released a snapshot of Mars taken May 12 from 80 million kilometres out. RelatedThe modern-day record of 55 million kilometres between Earth and Mars was set in 2003. That’s because Mars and the sun will be on opposite sides of Earth.

Source: National Post May 20, 2016 09:18 UTC