According to various reports, nearly 433,000 people simultaneously watched NASA`s official Webcast of this week`s Shuttle Discovery launch.
That`s more than twice the 175,000 streams that America Online Inc. had at its peak July 2 for the Live 8 concerts.
Yahoo Inc. in a partnership with NASA, sent out 335,000 streams in Windows Media format, while Akamai Technologies Inc. sent the rest in RealMedia format.
Other companies also webcast the launch, but unofficially. The audience may have exceeded 500,000 if those outlets are counted.
It's about time people started taking intrest in the space program again. If the public kept their enthuasium after the apollo program we would of probably had a moon base already. 
We were running the webcast on two computers in this building. Five people (at least) were watching each screen.
It would be way better to spend those billions of dollars to find a better source of energy for what we have on this planet rather than finding out that there is nothing in our solar system.
If done so we might have found way to control fusion. Once thatz done it would be pretty easy to go in space with that much power.
If done so we might have found way to control fusion. Once thatz done it would be pretty easy to go in space with that much power.
GUEST I liked your thoughts on fusion energy. What exactly has the space program given earth dwellers other than more debt. Oh sorry: VELCRO. Just being sarcastic but you do bring up a very good point! 
I agree completely with Guest. We should solve our problems on Earth first, and then persue space travel. Although a little excursion never hurts, so we could send a FEW probes out every now and then for curious exploring. But at the moment manned misisons to Mars, and Lunar Bases are stupid and over-ambitious. We should really focus on finding the secret to Cold Fusion or whatever you call it. THEN it'd actually be a lot easier to do space travel anyways.
The current "Space Shuttle" is a relic from the Cold War and a design that has aged over 30+ years. Most Americans would be embarrassed to travel in a vehicle that old. As mentioned elsewhere in this blog, the Shuttle is nothing more than a tractor trailer for hauling heavy loads into space. The fact that it carries a crew is incidental to its role of a heavy lift vehicle. The fact that the Apollo Saturn V could lift a similar load is largely ignored. Remember we launched the Skylab with the Saturn V. The idea that our own government is willing to risk the lives of our Astronauts by making them travel is this "Space-going Truck" infuriating.
My suggestion is simple, use 2 different vehicles: one for the heavy lift role of placing large payloads and space station components into orbit, and one for sending and returning our pilots and crew into space.
We are long overdue for a new way to transport our hard working Astronauts into space. I suggest we turn the design and construction for this vehicle over to Burt Rutan and his investors and remove the Government bureaucracy from the equation. Burt was the first inventor to successfully send a person into space using a re-usable vehicle without big government support or interference.
For the role of Heavy Lift Vehicle, there are several contenders: The old Saturn V could be updated and improved to carry an even heavier payload than in the past. The Russians have a very good heavy lift system already using the Energia rocket system, and the French/European consortium called Arian Space have a heavy lift capability too. We even have some very good medium-lift systems here from Lockheed and Boeing that could be used for many missions. Our government is still too arrogant to think of using someone else design and system for what we consider “Our Space Program”.
The role of the “International Space Station” is to get International, ie, other Countries, involvement into the Space Program, thereby reducing our own Nations debt load. We should allow other Nations to take a larger role in supporting the International Space Station. We can supply technical and research assistance where needed, as with the Arian rocket systems. The Russians actually have the most powerful rockets in use right now. We should co-develop a system that combines our Saturn V design and their engines for a future Heavy Lift Vehicle. This has already been proposed by some engineers within the companies that work for NASA and support the existing Space Shuttle.
In summary, we need to shelve the existing old shuttle and develop 2 new launch systems. One system using the design developed by Burt Rutan for a crew launch and return vehicle and one or even two Heavy Lift Vehicles for carrying the large payloads into orbit and beyond. We can carry on supporting the ISS by utilizing the Russian built Soyuz for personnel lift and their Energia for HLV operations with American and International funding until these new systems are operational.
My suggestion is simple, use 2 different vehicles: one for the heavy lift role of placing large payloads and space station components into orbit, and one for sending and returning our pilots and crew into space.
We are long overdue for a new way to transport our hard working Astronauts into space. I suggest we turn the design and construction for this vehicle over to Burt Rutan and his investors and remove the Government bureaucracy from the equation. Burt was the first inventor to successfully send a person into space using a re-usable vehicle without big government support or interference.
For the role of Heavy Lift Vehicle, there are several contenders: The old Saturn V could be updated and improved to carry an even heavier payload than in the past. The Russians have a very good heavy lift system already using the Energia rocket system, and the French/European consortium called Arian Space have a heavy lift capability too. We even have some very good medium-lift systems here from Lockheed and Boeing that could be used for many missions. Our government is still too arrogant to think of using someone else design and system for what we consider “Our Space Program”.
The role of the “International Space Station” is to get International, ie, other Countries, involvement into the Space Program, thereby reducing our own Nations debt load. We should allow other Nations to take a larger role in supporting the International Space Station. We can supply technical and research assistance where needed, as with the Arian rocket systems. The Russians actually have the most powerful rockets in use right now. We should co-develop a system that combines our Saturn V design and their engines for a future Heavy Lift Vehicle. This has already been proposed by some engineers within the companies that work for NASA and support the existing Space Shuttle.
In summary, we need to shelve the existing old shuttle and develop 2 new launch systems. One system using the design developed by Burt Rutan for a crew launch and return vehicle and one or even two Heavy Lift Vehicles for carrying the large payloads into orbit and beyond. We can carry on supporting the ISS by utilizing the Russian built Soyuz for personnel lift and their Energia for HLV operations with American and International funding until these new systems are operational.
Revolutionary Science Discoveries
GRAVITY SHOWN NOT TO BE FORCE BUT SIMPLE EXPLAINABLE NATURAL PHENOMENON
Since the time of Isaac Newton, scientists have tried to find the force of gravity. They have measured an acceleration due to gravity. Still, they cannot find the force associated with the measured acceleration. This is because there is no such force as gravity; and, that the acceleration is caused by a newly discovered natural phenomenon which is everywhere in the universe. Click here to understand what NASA and university scientists have failed to understand.
CONTINENTAL CONGRUENCE DISPROVES THE THEORY OF PANGAEA
The theory of Pangaea is not the answer despite millions of research dollars spent by NASA and academia. Close observation of coastlines on earth demonstrates that an inverted mirror image of continental features on the opposite side of the globe match their respective diametric counterparts. The most obvious and prominent example is the superposition of the inverted mirror image of Australia upon North America with Brisbane coincident with San Francisco. Other prominent examples are New Zealand and Italy as well as Colombia and Viet Nam. The SCHRIEFER UNIFIED THEORY© of the universe explains how interstellar mass and energy emissions and those of our local star, the Sun, interact so that matter stagnates to accumulate mass at specific locations on our planet. The same SCHRIEFER UNIFIED THEORY© uses the same phenomenae of matter and energy to explain what is called gravitational attraction, electromagnetic attraction and repulsion, and how the sun's observed pulse can be mathematically calculated to coincide with otherwise scientifically unexplained measurements, which are yet to be explained by NASA and academia in general. Besides these explanations by the SCHRIEFER UNIFIED THEORY©, other unexplained scientific mysteries such as the so-called dual nature of light and electromagnetic energy, as well as the inconsistency of time and temperature as basic scientific quantities or parameters.
160 MINUTE SOLAR PULSE RELATED TO SOLAR CYCLE MATHEMATICALLY
It is observed that the sun pulses every 160 minutes. The sun's diameter actually swells and contracts. Scientists have studied this phenomenon since its discovery in 1962 by a group at Cal Tech headed by Robert Leighton. NASA and academia, in projects such as SOHO and GONG, spend millions of research dollars; and, have still not explained this phenomenon. See the calculations for the solar pulse period and solar diameter change extent and rate that match real-world recorded observations as well as a close match to the actual 22-year solar cycle. This topic is based upon the SCHRIEFER UNIFIED THEORY©.
The more you know, the less you make!
PROOF:
We hear that Knowledge is Power; and, Time is Money.
So, Let K = Knowledge, P = Power, T = Time, M = Money, and W = Work.
Then, since Knowledge is Power, K = P
And, since Time is Money, T = M
In Physics, Power is defined as Work divided by Time.
So, P = W/T
Substituting Knowledge for Power, K = W/T
Substituting Money for Time, K = W/M
Rearranging, M = W/K
Therefore, for the same Work, Money is maximized by minimizing Knowledge; and, Money is minimized by maximizing Knowledge! So, .the more you know, the less you make!
GRAVITY SHOWN NOT TO BE FORCE BUT SIMPLE EXPLAINABLE NATURAL PHENOMENON
Since the time of Isaac Newton, scientists have tried to find the force of gravity. They have measured an acceleration due to gravity. Still, they cannot find the force associated with the measured acceleration. This is because there is no such force as gravity; and, that the acceleration is caused by a newly discovered natural phenomenon which is everywhere in the universe. Click here to understand what NASA and university scientists have failed to understand.
CONTINENTAL CONGRUENCE DISPROVES THE THEORY OF PANGAEA
The theory of Pangaea is not the answer despite millions of research dollars spent by NASA and academia. Close observation of coastlines on earth demonstrates that an inverted mirror image of continental features on the opposite side of the globe match their respective diametric counterparts. The most obvious and prominent example is the superposition of the inverted mirror image of Australia upon North America with Brisbane coincident with San Francisco. Other prominent examples are New Zealand and Italy as well as Colombia and Viet Nam. The SCHRIEFER UNIFIED THEORY© of the universe explains how interstellar mass and energy emissions and those of our local star, the Sun, interact so that matter stagnates to accumulate mass at specific locations on our planet. The same SCHRIEFER UNIFIED THEORY© uses the same phenomenae of matter and energy to explain what is called gravitational attraction, electromagnetic attraction and repulsion, and how the sun's observed pulse can be mathematically calculated to coincide with otherwise scientifically unexplained measurements, which are yet to be explained by NASA and academia in general. Besides these explanations by the SCHRIEFER UNIFIED THEORY©, other unexplained scientific mysteries such as the so-called dual nature of light and electromagnetic energy, as well as the inconsistency of time and temperature as basic scientific quantities or parameters.
160 MINUTE SOLAR PULSE RELATED TO SOLAR CYCLE MATHEMATICALLY
It is observed that the sun pulses every 160 minutes. The sun's diameter actually swells and contracts. Scientists have studied this phenomenon since its discovery in 1962 by a group at Cal Tech headed by Robert Leighton. NASA and academia, in projects such as SOHO and GONG, spend millions of research dollars; and, have still not explained this phenomenon. See the calculations for the solar pulse period and solar diameter change extent and rate that match real-world recorded observations as well as a close match to the actual 22-year solar cycle. This topic is based upon the SCHRIEFER UNIFIED THEORY©.
The more you know, the less you make!
PROOF:
We hear that Knowledge is Power; and, Time is Money.
So, Let K = Knowledge, P = Power, T = Time, M = Money, and W = Work.
Then, since Knowledge is Power, K = P
And, since Time is Money, T = M
In Physics, Power is defined as Work divided by Time.
So, P = W/T
Substituting Knowledge for Power, K = W/T
Substituting Money for Time, K = W/M
Rearranging, M = W/K
Therefore, for the same Work, Money is maximized by minimizing Knowledge; and, Money is minimized by maximizing Knowledge! So, .the more you know, the less you make!