The rare occasion of Mars’ closestpass to earth at the end of this month has left the people in China contemplate their distance from the rest of the world in astronomy research. The occasion, astronomers said, was as a touchstone of the Chinese people’s science awareness. Many astronomy fans in the country joined their foreign peers from Aug. 27 to 29 to celebrate the Red Planet’s mere separation of 55.6 million kilometers from earth, and experts said their enthusiasm indicated that Chinese people’s eyes are no longer fixed only on their daily necessities.