Every year, I receive an email from my mother, who (God bless her heart) loves to forward on chain letters and random, unsubstantiated claims. This particular email always focuses on how, on August 27, Mars will come closer to Earth than it has in thousands of years and will be the size of the full moon in the night sky. This particular email is a remnant of the one sent around to celebrate the actual occurrence, when, on August 27, 2003, Mars came within 35 million miles of Earth (which happens only once every 60,000 years) and appeared 6 times larger and 85 times brighter than it normally does. The reference in the email to Mars appearing to be the size of the full moon was intended