Psychology Glossary. Genotype. The total set of genes contained within an organisms cells. Organisms contain some genes that are expressed (you can consider the expressed to mean that the gene is active or being used) and some that are not. Regardless, all the genes an organism has are considered the genotype.
Mars' closest approach to the Earth is called opposition, and occurs roughly every 780 days.
Earth and Mars are rapidly converging. On August 27, 2003 -- the date of closest approach -- the two worlds will be 56 million km apart. That's a long way by Earth standards, but only a short distance on the scale of the solar system. NASA, the European Space Agency and Japan are all sending spacecraft to Mars this year. It's a good time to go.