Which planet is closer to Earth? Mars or Venus?

Question

I read somewhere that Venus has an orbit closest to Earth, but others told me Mars is closest to Earth...confused..

Answer 1

the distances between planets keep on changing and are never constant.The distance between Mars and the Earth ranges between about 100 million kilometers and 56 million k.m. Mars and the Earth were about 59 m. k.m. apart in 1988, and they will be 58 m. k.m apart in in July 2018.but yes venus is actually closer to earth than mars.

Answer 2

While Earth, Mars and Venus each orbit the sun, they do so in a different length of time. Kepler's laws of motion describe how the orbits behave.

So draw three rings one inside the other. Suppose All three planets and the Earth are arranged in a straight line. It is easy to see that if Venus is on the far side of the sun from us, and Mars is on the same side of the sun as we are, Mars will be closer. If they are arranged the other way, Venus will be closer.

So how close a planet is two us will change over time.

I have included some links with animations showing this. The second link is quite complex, but I like it because it shows how the planetary motion looks from the Earth.

Answer 3

intel knight has the right idea. it really depends on the relative position of the planets around the sun at any given instant of time. for example, if all three planets are on approximately a straight line, but Venus just happens to be on the opposite side of the sun from the earth while Mars is on the same side, then Mars is closer. However, on average, Venus is closer to the earth than Mars. Venus is approximately 67 million miles from the sun, the earth is approximately 93 million miles from the sun, and Mars is 142 million miles from the sun. Obviously 93 - 67 = 26 is smaller than 142 - 93 = 49. so when they are all lined up on the same side, which is not often, the separation between earth and Mars is almost twice the distance between the earth and Venus. I hope that answers your question satisfactorily. (despite the shorter distance to Venus, landing on that planet is much more difficult because the atmospheric pressure is so high that it can crush metal, and the temperature is so high that it soon fries all electronic devices. comprehension of the factors that created that nasty atmosphere led scientists to understand the greenhouse effect in our own atmosphere.)

Answer 4

Venus,its the second planet of the solar system and the earth is the third,mars is the fourth but i'd say,we read from left to right,so its venus

Answer 5

Mars

Answer 6

Mars

Answer 7

depends on when, since all three planets go around the sun on their orbits. But generally, Earth orbit is closer to Venus orbit.

Answer 8

definately mars! no actually it is venus! venus is always closer than mars. But intersetingly enough mars is the easiest planet to reach from here! It takes less energy to set the re than it does to venus. Weird huh?

Answer 9

VENUS = Avg. distance from Sun 108,208,926 km
EARTH = Avg. distance from Sun 152,097,701 km
MARS = Avg. distance from Sun 227,936,637 km

do the math

Answer 10

venus