not even close
Mars and Earth are farthest apart when they are both at aphelion and on opposite sides of the sun. Here, they can be 250 million miles (401 million km) apart according to the New York Times. The average distance between Earth and Mars is 140 million miles (225 million km).
https://www.space.com/16875-how-far-away-is-mars.html
“293 million miles from Earth”
Maybe they were thinking about taking a round trip? 🤠