NASA: A Mars a day helps you work rest and...

NASA's recent Mars expedition has proved a massive hit on the web - driving the space agency's website to an all-time high in terms of visitors.

NASA has revealed that during the past month and a half, the total number of visits to its homepage, which hosted images and video feeds from the two recent rover landings on Mars, was greater than the total population of Earth.

NASA said its homepage received 6.53 billion hits surpassing Earth's population of 6.3 billion people. The visitor numbers cover the period from 4 January, when the first rover, Spirit, landed, through to 19 February.

Although the idea of using hits as a measurement of success went out the window during the dot-com bust, NASA thinks the numbers are still a milestone.

"To the best of our knowledge this is the biggest government event in the history of the internet," said a NASA spokesman.

The most popular days occurred when NASA's two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, landed and broadcast their first images of the red planet. NASA said its website received 225 million hits during the first 24 hours after Spirit landed. The agency said it received more hits when Opportunity landed on 25 January.

Jim Hu writes for News.com