Mars seen as large as the Moon

I received an e-mail from a friend a few days ago. It said that Mars is now 55,750,000 km from Earth and that it will soon be seen as large as the Moon.
This info has been around for a couple of years now and it is completely wrong, if that were the case it would be in the news. It is simple mathematics to get it right. The moon is roughly 400,000 km away from us and is 1/6 the Earth, whereas Mars is (as said there but no longer true, as it has moved to a greater distance now) 55,75 million km away from us and is almost half the size of the Earth.

If you divide the size of each, Moon diameter = 1/6 12,000 km = 2,000 km and Mars diameter = 1/2 12,000 km = 6,000 km, by their distance to Earth you get: Moon = 2,000 / 400,000 = 0.005 , Mars = 6,000 / 55,750,000 = 0.0001076 (12,000 km is the Earth's diameter).

So for the Moon = 0.005
For Mars = 0.0001076

So, 0.005 / 0.0001076 = 46 > it means the Moon is seen from Earth 46 times BIGGER than Mars at those distances. For Mars to be seen as big as the Moon it would have to come 46 times closer to Earth = 55,750,000 / 46 = 1,211,956 km , and I cannot tell you the amazing earthquakes and tsunamis we would have, plus climate disruption, etc, etc.

Dakar Rally Raid 2009

Now tell me, what is all this fuss about the Dakar in South America? I can't imagine what these crazy loones are doing running around in their bikes, quads, cars and trucks along dirt roads and off road areas of the pampas, Patagonia, Atacama and who knows where. Does the race end in Timbucktoo? I would like that answered please. Anyone? OK, but this race is more like the cartoon with all those crazy drivers, with Pierre Novoyuna and his faithful dog Patan. Anyway, between you and me, wouldn't you love to take part in it? At least watch it from above? In a helicopter, I mean. Of course if you have enough to throw away, at $2000 the hour. But with a whole hour's ride you can see a lot, mind you. Now they are in the Atacama desert, so I've read this morning. Huge dunes, some as high as 300 feet ! Wow, how do you climb such a dune. Or maybe it looks like a dune and it's a mountain covered in sand ! I think that is the best answer. Howerver, the cars and bikes might be able to traverse them, but will the trucks? If you want to know the answer just go to www.youtube.com/racesulike this guy has posted all the Stages up to now. In my blog you can find some info too: offroadbeat.blogspot.com. Hope they all make it safely to Timbucktoo. Cheers from the Atacama desert. Me.