Mars Closest to Hudson Valley in 15 Years

On Tuesday, Mars is the closest to Earth it's been in the past 15 years and it won't be this close again for another 269 years.

On July 31, the Red Planet will be closer to Earth than it's been in the past 15 years. According to NASA, we'll be just 35.8 million miles from Mars as compared to the average distance of 140 million miles.

"35.8 million miles is definitely not what most of us would consider 'close,' NASS wrote on its blog. "But in planetary terms, close is definitely relative! Because Earth and Mars have elliptical orbits and are slightly tilted to each other, all close approaches are not equal."

Earth and Mars won't be this close again until 2287. However, in October 2020, the two planets will be 38.6 miles apart.

Mars should be visible to the southwest throughout the early morning. If you missed it, or the sky was too cloudy when you looked, NASA posted two live feeds. One can be seen by CLICKING HERE --- the other HERE