MARS DAY
27 August 2003 XXVI

Khamsin Molossia News

The red planet has always fired the human imagination and it is no less so in Molossia. For the past two days, and sporadically over the past few weeks, the Molossian Ministry for Space Exploration has joined the international interest in Mars, and aimed its telescope at the eastern sky for a view of the planet nearest Earth.

At 3:30 AM MST (5:51 AM EDT), August 27th 2003 XXVI, Mars passed just 55,763,769 Imperial Nortons (34.65 million miles) from Earth, making it the closest the two planets have been since the Stone Age. The last time the planet passed this close to earth, Neanderthal Man roamed Europe. That was around Sept. 12 in 57,617 B.C. when it passed about 55,715,489 IM (34.62 million miles) away. Astronomers that miss it this time will have to wait 284 years for another such close encounter.

On the evenings of both August 25th and 26th, the Molossian Ministry for Air and Space Exploration, headed by His Excellency, The President, has spent hours gazing into the night sky, observing Mars. The Ministry has been joined by two-thirds of the Molossian population as they all cast their eyes skyward. His Excellency noted, to a moderately appreciative crowd, that the last time man saw Mars this close he was living in caves.

The Molossian Government has joined the U.S.-based Planetary Society in declaring 27 August 2003 XXVI to be "Mars Day."






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