NASASpaceflight.com L2 Overview and Q&A (2010 to 2015)

[Chris Bergin]

The overview/intro page:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/L2/

2010 promo video for NSF and L2, kindly created by www.stormsurgemedia.com - run by Richard, who is an active member on site.




Everything on L2 is not available on ANY other site. On the rare occasions we do break news/images etc, and a few weeks later NASA decide to release them publicly, we move it off L2.

Each section has a request (Shopping List) form, which our sources (we have a lot of those) use to send us further L2 information as per request. You can also post further questions on the information in L2 due to the forum format. One of the major strengths of L2 is the large amount of actual space industry on L2 who are happy to answer questions/elaborate on what is contained in there, especially during missions.

The main sections are splintered off into over a 100s specific clickable topic areas, accessed via the L2 tag cloud, allowing for a menu of content from mission specific to vehicle specific and even hardware specific. See second post for a walkthrough.

The entire database is well over 7,000 Gigabytes in size and over nine years of building – containing information that ranges from the present, to the future, and as far back as the start of the space program. It's updated literally daily with new content.

Your subscription warrants your use of our servers for unlimited downloading, in turn allowing the revenue gained from L2 subscriptions to be used to improve the site, keep the majority of the site and news as free access, and playing a part in helping NASASpaceflight.com’s present and future stability.

All L2 revenue is used solely on paying the large costs of hosting such a massive site. Nobody takes a salary from NSF, we all have other 'day jobs'. We're not asking for donations in return for just a thank you, we're thanking you by giving you access to easily best subscription area related to space, and arguably on any subject given the level and range of content.

Nothing on L2 is ITAR, Export Control or Proprietary.

Previous overview thread - which has additional information and background:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=9944.0)

Previous L2 Promo video. Thanks to the guys at MaxQ - and still relevant:


Please feel free to post reviews of L2 if you're a member, or questions if you're thinking of joining.

Two place holders to follow for additional information.

Updated main signup and overview/intro page:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/L2/

[Chris Bergin]

FAQs....

Mainly sticking by our original points, with some modifications. Questions posted into this thread may get re-posted/edited into this post, to save people going through endless posts.

Some obvious ones:

Q) Why do you charge..why a subscription area? I'm American and I pay my taxes so I should get this for free. I'm not paying for anything on the internet!

A) Same as most sites with such areas...it costs a lot of money to keep this site up. Advertising revenue never cuts it, especially in recent years. All L2 revenue goes into the running of the site (server, database costs etc.) The site is not owned by some faceless company, it's owned by me, and I'm anything but rich, so L2 is a vital revenue stream, which is why we call it "support". Being an L2 member means you are directly supporting the site, but in return you get more than your monies worth!

So you're not "paying to access NASA info" - you're paying to use up our bandwidth on the bulk of the server and databases, and we cover the global space industry to boot.

Bottom line, no L2, no site. I wouldn't be able to afford to keep it going without it, period. Without L2, the rest of the site could not be run at a loss. L2 is literally paying for the news site and the open forum to remain free.


Q) If I am NASA, ULA, USA etc. Is L2 free?

A) Yes, simply mail me from your work address (ensuring you've signed up for a username on the forum). Your e-mail will only be used to confirm you are space industry...and only I will receive it, thus will be confidential. There's no condition of becoming a source attached, as much as it would be welcomed. We do, however, expect you to get actively involved, even if it's just answering the occasional question. Treating the site as read only is not welcomed and a "read only" involvement will result in the assumption of an inactive account <---this only applies to free upgraded space industry.

Amendment: Space industry accounts which have been inactive for a period of time will have their L2 access removed.

If you lose your job in the transition (post-Shuttle etc) you will not lose your free access privilege, providing you adhere to the above.


Q) If I'm media, does that mean I'm banned from L2?

A) No, in fact we have a lot of media in L2 (some of the famous names). The rules of media apply, so there's a conversation involved when joining, but that doesn't take more than one e-mail. The rule applies to accredited news media, not blog sites. You will not be able to use L2 as your source, we will run all acquired content first, and you then can accredit the public article.


Q) How do you get hold of the content for L2?

A) We have a lot of excellent sources, which is one of the most motivating elements of running this site. Every journalist has their sources, the difference with us is we put everything into L2, as it arrives. With other media in L2, that could be deemed as journalistic suicide, but the people I've got to know who cover space flight are a good bunch of people who play by the rules.


Q) Is it a reoccurring payment like other space site subscription services, where I'll get charged each term unless I cancel?

A) No. Your payment is for the term you choice and only that term. With about a week remaining on the term you will receive a resubscription notice, letting you know you are about to come to the end of your term and have the option of making an additional term (discounted for loyalty). If you do not resub, your term will end on time. You will not be charged again.


Q) Ok, I've gone blind. Quick overview of how I join L2 if you please?

A) Make sure you have yourself a username on the forum (we use that to upgrade you). Make the payment via the link on the bottom of the http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/L2/ page. I get an e-mail when that's completed, I personally upgrade you into L2 and send you a one page overview of instructions to the e-mail address your payment notification came in.

If there was a problem for whatever reason, I'm a living person not a mailbot, so contact me, I'm here to help.

[AndrewSTS]

And even all that above doesn't cover it

L2 totally rocks and on many levels and I hadn't thought I was helping the site at the same time by being a member. Win, win.

[Jason Davies]

Agree with the above. Super impressive service. Simple thing the non-L2 members need to ask themselves is if they enjoy the news articles because they get the news out first, imagine what it's like on L2 where those articles have been based on. Really is stunning when you get a presentation from a meeting they are having that same day, ask a question and sometimes a guy at that meeting then answers the question!

Very impressed by how it's already got a lot on the future vehicles too. The HLV coverage is amazing.

[DaveJSC]

Going to be a lot of repeat posts on here, but L2 is awesome, even for those who work in the industry, as it's a very wide focus area.

The new video is well produced. Like the ending with NEO and Mars and the flag!

[Longhorn John]

I like the updated main L2 page. How much is on L2 is better shown in the tag graphic, because it's far more than six sections, it's huge, and great.

[Seattle Dave]

Nice video, although I think even the promo videos and the large three posts above do L2 justice. It's near-impossible to describe how deep the content base is.

Excellent value for money and it's gone to the upkeep of the site. The servers have been very solid for a long time now. Used to be rough during launches and events in the early days. Hope those who aren't on L2 realize that and support NSF.

[ChrisGebhardt]

I feel the best way to describe L2 is to relate my first encounter with this amazing part of NASASpaceflight.com.  As a resident of Central Florida and the Space Coast my entire life, the space program has obviously been an intricately important of my life. After first discovering NASASpaceflight.com in June 2007, I was reluctant to "pay" for a portion of the site that the free news articles were based off of.

After a year’s time, I had heard nothing but positive and enthusiastic reviews from forum members about L2 and the wealth of information contained there; so I broke down and signed up for the lowest payment option possible -- two months for $19.99. I signed up at 12 noon and immediately started looking through the various L2 threads. The next thing I knew it was 11p.m. -- 11 hours later. So after making a late-night food run to appease my angry stomach I went right back to L2 and before I knew it, it was 3a.m. Needless to day, I was hooked on L2 and immediately went back and upgraded my membership to a full year’s subscription -- a decision I have not regretted for a single nano-second.

On a more personal level, had I not signed up for L2, I would not have had the privilege and honor of working with Chris Bergin and the wonderful MaxQ team for the last two and half years and I would not have had the career opportunities that are now open to me. Is L2 worth it? In my opinion the answer to that question is a resounding YES. However, like all things in life, only you can answer that question for yourself.

L2 is there for those who want that more in-depth look at the NASA world. Will you understand every single engineering document you come across on L2? No. I don’t understand some of them. But therein lies the beauty of NASASpaceflight.com. If you don’t understand something, ask. No one will jump down your throat or tell you you’re asking a stupid question. On the contrary, we’re a community that will answer your specific question and point you toward documents in the massive L2 database that will help you understand some of the more complex engineering documents. And you never, ever have to worry about running out of things to read on L2. There is no such thing as a “slow news day” here on L2.

As Chris Bergin has said, membership is operational and ALL the subscription money GOES TOWARD SERVER COSTS AND SITE MAINTAINCE. I don’t get paid to write for this site or represent NSF at KSC media events and mission briefings. I do everything I do for NSF because I believe in this site and its mission.

So sign up and see what L2 is all about. If you’re not sure about paying a full year’s subscription, do what I did and sign up for the lowest option: two months for a total of $19.99. That is an incredible offer. That’s access to more information than you could even imagine for only $0.32 a day!

[DavisSTS]

I signed up at 12 noon and immediately started looking through the various L2 threads. The next thing I knew it was 11p.m. -- 11 hours later. So after making a late-night food run to appease my angry stomach I went right back to L2 and before I knew it, it was 3a.m.

Ha! Know that feeling well!

How about a sticky thread over each forum section with a promo overview of what content we have on things like the Russian space program, SpaceX and commercial, etc? I reckon a lot of people think it's just Shuttle, when it's not.

[Jester]

L2 you ask ?

two words:

Get It.



'nuf said....and yes "even" me, your humble ESA source, uses it...and not just for posting stuff either

Now, why are you still reading this ? go get it already !

[Aobrien]

I first got L2 a little over 2 years ago and when I started to use it right away I went into overload from just so much information. To this day there are still a lot of materials I have yet to look at that have been there since I registered and they keep adding more and more.

Now L2 has become part of my daily routine. I wake up before school and check the detailed NTD reports for each vehicle and then through my day I periodically check for updates on any events happening. When I have free time I just go and explore L2.

I can tell you that I will continue to be an L2 member forever. And I will never think twice about it.

L2 is mind blowing and it will never cease to amaze you.
You are really missing out on what this site has to offer until you subscribe to L2!

So what are you waiting for?!

[Chris Bergin]

Very much appreciate the positive posts above
 

How about a sticky thread over each forum section with a promo overview of what content we have on things like the Russian space program, SpaceX and commercial, etc? I reckon a lot of people think it's just Shuttle, when it's not.

Might do, but this was more about revamping the thread with more updated overview.
 
You can overdo the 'advertisement' of what L2 is, because it's very important the news site and the forum are top class and at the top of their game regardless of L2, despite the fact the news site is driven by some of the L2 content we acquire. We always aim to have people visit this site and think it rocks without ever thinking about L2, as opposed to them thinking "aww, I wish L2 was free, I'm being shortchanged here". I'd understand that if the news site was weak and based on press releases. The news site benefits from L2, as opposed to advertising it. Everyone wins.
 
Of course, L2 is above and beyond, and it has to always be so, in order for that 'extra level'. We're not running a donation advert in return for keeping the open parts of the site free. We're not running L2 to pay for me to go out and get myself some fancy laptops. L2 revenue is paying for the site's costs (servers etc) for all of the site. It really boils down to that.
 
I'm going off on a tangent, but if you enjoy the site, and you can afford it, support it! L2 is the way to do that, and you get to access to tons of cool stuff in return, along with my personal gratitude and the gratitude of everyone else on this site by proxy, as you've contributed to there being a healthy and improving site to visit. If you can't afford it, but enjoy the site, you're just as welcome here, tell your friends, spread the word.
 
Make no mistake about it, this site would be dead if it wasn't for the early L2 members, as my self funding had exhausted my overdraft (we grew too fast). This site would still be on patchy servers and bandwidth constraints if it wasn't for the growth of our L2 membership. And this site would be seriously considering shutting down the open forum if it wasn't for the continued loyalty of what is a stunning 90 percent resub level of our L2 membership.
 
Hopefully that addresses a few misconceptions that are likely to be out there.

[MP99]

And this site would be seriously considering shutting down the open forum if it wasn't for the continued loyalty of what is a stunning 90 percent resub level of our L2 membership.

...and there's your key L2 stat:- 90% retention rate is very impressive. Wow! TBH, I'd have thought that should be highlighted in the "updated overview" post #1.

I'm definitely in that 90% - have to add my vote to the positive reports above. I really love L2.

cheers, Martin

[padrat]

Heck, I come here myself to get news and info. Because 80-90 percent of the time I find it here well before my, um, "chain of command"

[robertross]

Today became a great day to realize the benefits of L2.

Nudge-nudge, wink-wink
 

[TerryNaylor]

When you become a L2 member, do you get to actually download presentations, like pdfs and get to keep them? Or are they only in some window viewer?

[GoForTLI]

When you become a L2 member, do you get to actually download presentations, like pdfs and get to keep them? Or are they only in some window viewer?

You get the most incredible pdf documents known to mankind.  They are yours to download and use, but you can't share them. 

[Chris Bergin]

When you become a L2 member, do you get to actually download presentations, like pdfs and get to keep them? Or are they only in some window viewer?

You download them to your hard drive. Yours to keep.

[Space Pete]

When you become a L2 member, do you get to actually download presentations, like pdfs and get to keep them? Or are they only in some window viewer?

You download them to your hard drive. Yours to keep.

...And trust me, you're gonna need a big hard drive!

[Aobrien]

A 5000gb harddrive

[PahTo]

LOL!  Aobrien and Space Pete beat me to it.  I now have an external 200gb drive thanks to this site and select others (gotta' love those high res images from the NASA sites)!

[Longhorn John]

When you become a L2 member, do you get to actually download presentations, like pdfs and get to keep them? Or are they only in some window viewer?

And the videos too, all of it!

[TerryNaylor]

When you become a L2 member, do you get to actually download presentations, like pdfs and get to keep them? Or are they only in some window viewer?

And the videos too, all of it!

Yeah, started going through those today. Had no idea how big this L2 database is. The promo videos don't do it justice at all, really impressive videos.

[Chris Bergin]

Don't forget to get your L2 in for 133. Already heating up, but nothing compared to the Flight Days.

What the MMT see, you'll see.

[Ford Mustang]

Don't forget to get your L2 in for 133. Already heating up, but nothing compared to the Flight Days.

What the MMT see, you'll see.

Adding that during flight days, you'll see live what the MMT sees - not like their console, but Chris passes everything along as he gets it, no wait time.  Much appreciated, Chris.

[DaveJSC]

Don't forget to get your L2 in for 133. Already heating up, but nothing compared to the Flight Days.

What the MMT see, you'll see.

Even though we never got that far as launching, the IPR coverage has been superb, and I say that as someone who works the missions in the MER. Hearing from the ACTUAL techs who are working on the leaks beats any official notes, as much as we see those here too. A lot of praise to the Kennedy team dealing with this stubborn shuttle.

[Chris Bergin]

Note the addition of a seventh L2 section, which is already rocking and rolling with exclusive coolness.

The updated main sign-up and overview/intro page:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/L2/

The above page should provide all you need, but for an extensive overview, here are three large overview posts:



New promo video for NSF and L2, kindly created by www.stormsurgemedia.com - run by Richard, who is an active member on site.




L2 is now seven main sections:

1) Mission Special Section:
Covers specific mission content, from PRCB baseline presentations, daily NTD/KSC integration level processing coverage, FRR presentation coverage, MMT pre-launch and Flight Day coverage, through to post flight IFA, etc.

2) International Space Station Section:
Operational manuals, Assembly and Robotics Presentations, SSPCB notes, 8th Floors, Russian documentation, Tour videos etc.

3) Russian Space Flight:
Documentation, Photos, Updates and Video on the Russian/Soviet Space Program, from MIR to Buran (four long exclusive videos in Russian), through to the ISS modules and the Russian "ESAS" presentations (55/500mb) on their next generation vehicle.

4) Space Flight L2: Shuttle and current vehicles Section:
Future flight processing and documentation, Previous mission documentation (post RTF), General documentation, Extension studies, Shuttle manuals (SCOMs etc), SSME bibles, SRB/RSRM bibles (master presentations). A lot of the tag cloud content lives there.

5) Constellation To Future Plan Transition Section:
Large amount of Ares and Orion presentations from the beginning to present. COTS/CRS (NASA side), Commercial (EELV). Very much filling up with SD HLV and HLV presentations. Future KSC hardware such as the new ML master sections. Lots more, anything on any future videos is located in there. Includes a good number of videos.

6) Historical Section: From the first days of Cape Canaveral, through to Saturn/Apollo and the early days of the shuttle program. Huge amount of images (400Gb at last estimate). Full Hi Res images from nearly every mission. Orbiter construction in California. Apollo, Gemini and videos. MER reports for every mission. Old Skool vehicles from the days of the Atlantic Missile Range. Too many elements to mention.

7) Video Section:
Home of several full re-entry videos taken from a hand-held camcorder on the flight deck. Every STA training video from all runways from all three primary landing site. MOD flight controller training class videos (really cool). VAB/PAD/OPF tour video. Videos from engineers such as lighting the flare stack. Personal tours of Dryden and inside the SCAs. Four very long and unreleased Buran videos. SRB re-entry video from recovery ship etc, Covers lots of vehicles over lots of years.
Some L2 video samples:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=9944.msg189521#msg189521


Everything on L2 is not available on ANY other site. On the rare occasions we do break news/images etc, and a few weeks later NASA decide to release them publicly, we move it off L2.

Each section has a request (Shopping List) form, which our sources (we have a lot of those) use to send us further L2 information as per request. You can also post further questions on the information in L2 due to the forum format. One of the major strengths of L2 is the large amount of actual space industry on L2 who are happy to answer questions/elaborate on what is contained in there, especially during missions.

Six main sections are splintered off into over a 100 specific clickable topic areas, accessed via the L2 tag cloud, allowing for a menu of content from mission specific to vehicle specific and even hardware specific. See second post for a walkthrough.

The entire database is well over 4,500gbs in size and over four years of building – containing information that ranges from the present, to the future, and as far back as the start of the space program. It's updated literally daily with new content.

Your subscription warrants your use of our servers for unlimited downloading, in turn allowing the revenue gained from L2 subscriptions to be used to improve the site, keep the majority of the site and news as free access, and playing a part in helping NASASpaceflight.com’s present and future stability.

All L2 revenue is used solely on paying the large costs of hosting such a massive site. Nobody takes a salary from NSF, we all have other 'day jobs'. We're not asking for donations in return for a thank you, we're thanking you by giving you access to easily best subscription area related to space, and arguably on any subject given the level and range of content.

Nothing on L2 is ITAR, Export Control or Proprietary.

Previous overview thread - which has additional information and background:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=9944.0)

Previous L2 Promo video. Thanks to the guys at MaxQ - and still relevant:


Please feel free to post reviews of L2 if you're a member, or questions if you're thinking of joining.

Two place holders to follow for additional information.

Updated main signup and overview/intro page:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/L2/

[ChrisGebhardt]

Note the addition of a seventh L2 section, which is already rocking and rolling with exclusive coolness.

And what a kick-ass section it is!

[STS Tony]

I agree. L2 justs gets better and better. 

[Maverick]

I agree. L2 justs gets better and better. 

Thirded, or fourthed, or fifthed

[Robert Malison]

I have a question. I would like to join L2.

One some subscription sites, you get charged concurrently until you cancel. It seems you only pay once and if you don't renew it just runs out? I prefer that, so is L2 like that?

[stockman]

I have a question. I would like to join L2.

One some subscription sites, you get charged concurrently until you cancel. It seems you only pay once and if you don't renew it just runs out? I prefer that, so is L2 like that?

Robert

There is a good description of L2 here

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/

Basically you buy the time you want and about a month or so before it expires you get an Email notification to remind you to renew... If you choose not to renew then it just expires

[Chris Bergin]

I have a question. I would like to join L2.

One some subscription sites, you get charged concurrently until you cancel. It seems you only pay once and if you don't renew it just runs out? I prefer that, so is L2 like that?

Thanks to Roger above and to expand. We didn't like the idea of having people tied to some sort of contract on a reoccurring payment - didn't seem at all fair where you have to physically cancel to avoid renewal payments.

So with us you pay for your term and near the end of the term I personally (no e-mail bots here) send you a renewal notice about a week or so before your term is set to end - offering you the option to renew (any term period)....and if you renew before the end of your term, the difference is added on to your new term period.

If you don't want to renew, you don't have to do anything and the term simply comes to an end when your term expires. Plus, if you want, you can jump back on L2 any time after the end of term.

Most people renew before the end of term as we're always adding content to L2 daily.

Our renewal rate stands at 94 percent.

[Robert Malison]

Thanks! Will join this week!

Your subscription warrants your use of our servers for unlimited downloading, in turn allowing the revenue gained from L2 subscriptions to be used to improve the site, keep the majority of the site and news as free access, and playing a part in helping NASASpaceflight.com’s present and future stability.

All L2 revenue is used solely on paying the large costs of hosting such a massive site. Nobody takes a salary from NSF, we all have other 'day jobs'. We're not asking for donations in return for a thank you, we're thanking you by giving you access to easily best subscription area related to space, and arguably on any subject given the level and range of content.

Didn't know that. I love all the site already and that encourges me to know I'm helping the site as a whole too.

[Chris Bergin]

Excellent, thanks for your support Robert - and that is exactly what it is. No L2, no site, simply as that. L2 members aren't paying for content, they are paying to support the site and getting rewarded for their support by being able to access the coolness of L2.

Just a few years back we'd lag and go down when the site was busy on live event threads etc. Now we're up all the time, even at levels of 200+ page impressions per second because we're on top notch dedicated servers, which we can afford because of L2 revenue. There's no way we'd be able to self fund it and ad revenue fell through the bottom of the floor on the internet years ago.

So those people who aren't L2 members, but use the site and enjoy it should know it's thanks to L2 members and the revenue/support they've provided which is why the site runs as well as it does, while those L2 members are getting rewarded with a lot of cool stuff

[jryodabobs]

. . . L2 members are getting rewarded with a lot of cool stuff

Yes, we are, Chris. Thanks for all your hard work that makes it possible.

Bob Stevenson

[ChrisGebhardt]

Excellent, thanks for your support Robert - and that is exactly what it is. No L2, no site, simply as that. L2 members aren't paying for content, they are paying to support the site and getting rewarded for their support by being able to access the coolness of L2.

Just a few years back we'd lag and go down when the site was busy on live event threads etc. Now we're up all the time, even at levels of 200+ page impressions per second because we're on top notch dedicated servers, which we can afford because of L2 revenue. There's no way we'd be able to self fund it and ad revenue fell through the bottom of the floor on the internet years ago.

So those people who aren't L2 members, but use the site and enjoy it should know it's thanks to L2 members and the revenue/support they've provided which is why the site runs as well as it does, while those L2 members are getting rewarded with a lot of cool stuff

I would just like to add something here, as well. The L2 revenue goes entirely to site maintenance and upkeep. Chris and I (or any of the article contributors here) do not draw a salary or paycheck. We do all our work solely as volunteers. So the money spent on L2 subscriptions really does go to site maintenance and upkeep.

[Space Pete]

Excellent, thanks for your support Robert - and that is exactly what it is. No L2, no site, simply as that. L2 members aren't paying for content, they are paying to support the site and getting rewarded for their support by being able to access the coolness of L2.

Just a few years back we'd lag and go down when the site was busy on live event threads etc. Now we're up all the time, even at levels of 200+ page impressions per second because we're on top notch dedicated servers, which we can afford because of L2 revenue. There's no way we'd be able to self fund it and ad revenue fell through the bottom of the floor on the internet years ago.

So those people who aren't L2 members, but use the site and enjoy it should know it's thanks to L2 members and the revenue/support they've provided which is why the site runs as well as it does, while those L2 members are getting rewarded with a lot of cool stuff

I would just like to add something here, as well. The L2 revenue goes entirely to site maintenance and upkeep. Chris and I (or any of the article contributors here) do not draw a salary or paycheck. We do all our work solely as volunteers. So the money spent on L2 subscriptions really does go to site maintenance and upkeep.

And all this time I've been expecting a big paycheck in the mail!

Seriously, I completely agree. I don't write for money. I write because I love doing it, and for the pleasure of giving something back to this fantastic community.

From an ISS perspective (would you expect anything else from me? ), I can tell you that since I've had L2, my knowledge of the ISS has increased tenfold. L2 members get ISS news at least a day or more before it appears anywhere else. Most of the ISS stuff on L2 doesn't even get a mention anywhere else, not even in the NASA ISS On-Orbit Status reports. The level of detail in the status notes is amazing. There's a wealth of ISS training manuals, too.

[Robert Malison]

Signed up for two months earlier today and now I regret I had...













..........because it's amazing and I should have signed up for longer

Those resub comments turned out to be helpful as I will be resubbbing in two months. No way will I get through all this cool stuff this year nevermind in two months.

Best 20 bucks I've spent in a long time.

[Chris Bergin]

Heh! That's great to hear, and thanks for making me fall off my chair at first

[Lee Jay]

No way will I get through all this cool stuff this year nevermind in two months.

It would take a heck of a lot of effort to get through it all *ever*.  Information seems to come into L2 faster than I'm able to read it, much less going back to all that exists there already.  It's better organized now than it used to be so it's much easier to pick and choose that which interests you the most.  But, man, there is a lot to choose from!

[RobbieCape]

I love L2. It really does get better and better all the time, and is already providing great info on the new vehicles.

[Seattle Dave]

I love this site and I think I should write a post which express my feelings about L2 in a way I think is warranted.

This is an amazing website even without L2, as much as I know L2 drives the excellent news articles, but I know Chris has said it before that without L2 there's no way they'd be able to run a site this size, and the new servers have shown how well that has worked out. 30,000 people counted on the Soyuz flyaround thread alone today? There's a big audience here.

However I didn't join L2 as a tip jar towards the running of the site, I'll hold my hands up, I was after the goodies and I didn't expect to see what was on there apart from a few promos for full length vids, which was what I was after. Bottom line is it really is much MUCH more than you can ever expect, especially on the depth. I was a subscriber on another site for a few months and they had a lot of videos, as much as most of their videos are now youtubed by NASA or recorded by people like John 44 because they are NASA TV features mostly, so what they are adding is probably being made available now anyway, and I kind of expected the same thing with L2.

But no, the videos are exclusives, like where you are sat in a MOD class learning about being a controller and Gene Kranz walks in to give a pep talk. Like the historic images, 2-4 meg full res photos, for nearly every mission there's been and sometimes 50 plus of them for each one. Sometimes it's a heads up, like the RPM images turning up within an hour. NASA.gov publish a handful a day later, but by then there 300 of them in L2, in sequence, getting stitched by Ron and turned into gifs because the full set is there and people already spotting the couple of dings. All of it downloadable to your own computer for keeps.

Best of all there's more professional space flight guys in there talking and really getting involved, even Jim and OV-106 are friendly there. Now there's really good info on the commercial vehicles too, and we're really getting front seats to the SLS content.

In short it's amazing, and while I've been on this site long enough I'd be more than happy to throw some bucks into the tip jar, those who do get rewarded like you won't believe.

Get on L2, support the site and get cool stuff. Best way of saying what needs to be said.

[Ford Mustang]

But no, the videos are exclusives, like where you are sat in a MOD class learning about being a controller and Gene Kranz walks in to give a pep talk. Like the historic images, 2-4 meg full res photos, for nearly every mission there's been and sometimes 50 plus of them for each one. Sometimes it's a heads up, like the RPM images turning up within an hour. NASA.gov publish a handful a day later, but by then there 300 of them in L2, in sequence, getting stitched by Ron and turned into gifs because the full set is there and people already spotting the couple of dings. All of it downloadable to your own computer for keeps.

Best of all there's more professional space flight guys in there talking and really getting involved, even Jim and OV-106 are friendly there. Now there's really good info on the commercial vehicles too, and we're really getting front seats to the SLS content.

Snipped the quote, but I'd just like to expand on this - and great words, Dave.  Really well said.

The RPM photos from this mission were on L2 within an hour of them being sent to the ground.  And not just one or two, there were probably 10 to 20 from each camera, if not more, so imagine 100 RPM images on L2 within an hour of shooting them in space.  That's just amazing work from our sources, and we do thank them - L2 is an amazing place like no other.

The engineers who are on L2, who frequent the site, are very knowledgeable and if you have a question, they'll answer it if they can.  You really get "hands on" with the engineers, sometimes you feel like you're really about to go out on the MLP and fix a GSE issue (not really, but you get that much knowledge out of it).  L2 can't be explained well enough, as much as we try.  It's another level, filled with sources within who pass along memos from the consoles during a mission, memos or knowledge about an issue during a flow, and even learn about the next step in space flight.

[MP99]

You really get "hands on" with the engineers, sometimes you feel like you're really about to go out on the MLP and fix a GSE issue (not really, but you get that much knowledge out of it).  L2 can't be explained well enough, as much as we try.  It's another level, filled with sources within who pass along memos from the consoles during a mission, memos or knowledge about an issue during a flow, and even learn about the next step in space flight.

For a recent very impressive example of content, just take a look at the "STS-134: APU Troubleshooting Updates" thread on L2.

18 pages of great detail, background info and superb updates.

cheers, Martin

[LendMeYourYears]

Just waiting for STS-135 ticket sale money  , and completion of a PayPal account setup to become a member (unless there's another method of paying?)

Also - is L2 named after the Lagrange point?

[DaveS]

Also - is L2 named after the Lagrange point?

No. L2 is simply short for "Level 2".

[Rob in KC]

Just waiting for STS-135 ticket sale money  , and completion of a PayPal account setup to become a member (unless there's another method of paying?)

Paypal is just the secure mechant. You don't need to be a paypal member. You'll see on the payment screen that on the right you get to sign in, or on the left you just enter your card details.

So it's "Pay with Credit/Debit Card *or* Log In". Actually the design's changed a bit since I last used it. See graphic below for what to look for, on the left hand side.

Took me five mins. Chris upgraded me within five minutes of that and I've not left since as it's amazing, far more amazing than you think it is before accessing

[Lee Jay]

Our renewal rate stands at 94 percent.

That alone should tell you something about the value of L2.

Chris upgraded me within five minutes of that and I've not left since as it's amazing, far more amazing than you think it is before accessing

Isn't that odd?  Everyone heaps praise on it, someone joins and then says stuff like, "wow...I had no idea!".  There's just so much there, it's hard to believe until you join.

By the way, I think there's a good chance that L2 is going to improve going forward because of all this commercial and SLS stuff.  Could be a very interesting few years!

[Clint88]

For what it's worth I've been on L2 for a few days now and I've found it STAGGERING. You guys need to advertise it better, especially as it's about helping to fund the whole site, it's absolutely remarkable the level of content and the people on there and the adverts don't touch how amazing it is.

I wish I had joined for longer than two months as I think it'll take more two years to get through this, but at least I can resub. Spent most of the time seeing amazingly cool stuff and then randomly hitting the tag page and there's more cools stuff. So impressive.

[Lee Jay]

Nice first post, and welcome to the site!

[Chris Bergin]

Thanks Clint, I'm glad you're enjoying!

You're probably right about the promotion of L2, but if we ran adverts noting you get free airline tickets and hotel accommodation to a NASA center of your choice, then people would just start joining regardless of being a fan of space flight or not! And we can't have that

(Legal note: You don't get free airline tickets or hotels rooms via joining L2 )

[Melroy Fan]

Good afternoon to everyone on this very historic and emotional day.

I just wanted to take a minute to thank all of our L-2 sources for everything they have done for the site.

Without all of their help and incredible information, things just wouldn't be the same. Every day I learn something new about the space program, be it the shuttle, ISS, historical, etc. It's been an incredible and magical ride since I came here in 2006 and I have no doubt it will continue, thanks to our sources.

The quality and amount of information we are lucky enough to receive has just been staggering. The speed at which we get information is simply amazing. I think we had to have set a record on this 135 mission with the speed at which we received the RPM photos. Never seen anything like it.

So, thank you to our sources. We so greatly appreciate everything you have done for our space program as well as this site.

[Steven Richardson]

Spent two days on L2 so far and I'm overwhelmed. Wish I had joined for more than two months, as I won't get close to getting through about 10 percent of this mass of content. And to know I'm helping the running of the entire site is great.

[Matthew Haywood]

Yep! L2 is ultra awesome!

[CharlieT]

How does the new photo section work? Can I download photos to my harddrive and keep them, even after my term ends?

[Chris Bergin]

How does the new photo section work? Can I download photos to my harddrive and keep them, even after my term ends?

Yes to all.

Most of the photos are "attached" into specific threads as sets, allowing for a thread view preview.

So if I randomly pick one thread from a Shuttle mission, there's sets of photos like these, attached to posts (note: On this example you may have seen this one go public, but L2 has full sets of them - as opposed to one or two which NASA select to go public, most of L2's photos are entirely unreleased).

You have the preview size showing. Click on it for full size - or what I do is open it into a new window for a better view. Save as, or whatever you normally do for your browser to save it.

Some massive sequences also have an optional zip download. All L2 content is downloadable, and you get to keep it forever. Only rule is not to republish.

[MP99]

You have the preview size showing. Click on it for full size - or what I do is open it into a new window for a better view. Save as, or whatever you normally do for your browser to save it.

Easier to just click the filename and select the "save" option. If using a half-decent browser it will queue it up via a download manager. This really helps if downloading a large number of files.

cheers, Martin

[RichardoLewis]

So this works on upgrading the member to access L2. Does this mean I can purchase a L2 subscription for my son for Christmas? He sets up a username and that account can be upgraded?

[Carl G]

So this works on upgrading the member to access L2. Does this mean I can purchase a L2 subscription for my son for Christmas? He sets up a username and that account can be upgraded?

Yes. You can choose the member to be upgraded, usually yourself, but you can choose your son's account/username.

Any problems, just e-mail Chris beforehand ([email protected] or [email protected]) as it's all manually looked after. No "here's a payment form, you'll never speak to a human" like most other subscriptions.

[RichardoLewis]

Thanks Carl, that's excellent.

[Jason A]

I've been on L2 for a week or so now and I'm about one percent into everything. It's amazing!

[RichardoLewis]

Well that was a joy, Chris is allowing the term to start on Christmas Day for two months, after paying today. That is very helpful!

[dcbecker]

Well that was a joy, Chris is allowing the term to start on Christmas Day for two months, after paying today. That is very helpful!

Chris is the BEST! for the BEST space site!

[Andy DC]

Hi, I've just joined, how long does it take to be upgraded?

Oh, already upgraded as I posted Thanks Chris!

[Chris Bergin]

Yep, saw that come through Andy and you're on! Welcome to the site, the forum and L2 all in one go! We really appreciate your support.

Have fun, as I know you will.

(And thanks to dcbecker for his comment, didn't notice that, and while I wouldn't say I'm the best at anything, the site deserves it so that was appreciated )

[Andy DC]

Yep, saw that come through Andy and you're on! Welcome to the site, the forum and L2 all in one go! We really appreciate your support.

Have fun, as I know you will.

Thanks Chris! Having fun for sure. L2 is amazing. I'm doing random page hits and finding awesome goodies!

[Don Mc0]

Hey Chris. Going to join L2 tomorrow, but my paypal address is different to the one I signed up to the forum with. That's cool right?

[Chris Bergin]

Hey Chris. Going to join L2 tomorrow, but my paypal address is different to the one I signed up to the forum with. That's cool right?

Sure is Don!

During the checkout process you can enter your username, so when the payment arrives.

Any problems, fire me an e-mail or PM. I personally will see notification of the payment, so I'm immediately hands on with ensuring the upgrade is completed.

Thanks Don!

[Don Mc0]

Thanks Chris! Already blown away by how awesome this all is!

[Chris Bergin]

Great to hear Don

UPDATE:

Small example noted in this article:

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/12/stratolaunch-rutan-designed-air-launched-system-falcon-rockets/

That article is mainly from the press release, but I added in L2 info on the Crossbow. Notice how the "conceptual designs and graphics (L2)" is clickable - click that and it'll take L2 members only directly to that L2 resource.

Today's SLS article will probably have a lot more as it'll be fully via L2, but the idea is L2 members will have more direct linking from the news articles to the documentation. Remember to be logged in to the forum so the system recognizes you as a L2 member.

Non-L2 members will go through to the forum on clicking such links with "off limits" message.

[Chris Bergin]

Ok, a trial of color coding. Three direct-to-L2-content links in this article:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/12/building-roadmap-sls-con-ops-lays-leolunar-options/

Do we require colors? Or would direct linking with the "(L2)" serve the purpose?

[MP99]

Ok, a trial of color coding. Three direct-to-L2-content links in this article:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/12/building-roadmap-sls-con-ops-lays-leolunar-options/

Do we require colors? Or would direct linking with the "(L2)" serve the purpose?

I not sure the colours are necessary, but would suggest something more like "available to L2 members" instead of "available to download via L2".

For readers who aren't familiar with L2, this tells them it has a membership (and implies they could join it).

Also, the page you get to if you're not signed in may benefit from a specific mention of L2 membership, and perhaps a link to this overview thread. (Not sure if you can configure that easily, or it requires a programmer change.)

cheers, Martin

[racshot65]

The colours are slightly weird as its not really standard to have multicoloured links.

I guess if you do it for long enough people will get used to it.

Also, I agree with MP99 if you don't have access to L2 it should go to a promotional page for it, rather than an error message.

[Chris Bergin]

Good calls guys, thanks. Yeah, we need Mark to change the "not L2, clicking a L2 page, message". And we'll forget about colors and just work on linkage.

[AdamH]

Wow, what a wonderful surprise. Thank you so much!!
I truly appreciate the generous gift of L2 that one of you has given me, you are too kind!
Best wishes to you for the holidays. I promise to make good use of it! 

[Rangers75]

Hey. Is it right you can actually download stuff to your hard drive and keep forever? Or is it where you access things but only until your subscription runs out?

Also I had been a member of another subscription service and they kept charging my card until I wrote them an e-mail to stop charging me and remove my subscription. You don't do that here right?

[Chris Bergin]

Hey. Is it right you can actually download stuff to your hard drive and keep forever? Or is it where you access things but only until your subscription runs out?

Welcome to the site! It's the former, you download content and keep it forever.

Also I had been a member of another subscription service and they kept charging my card until I wrote them an e-mail to stop charging me and remove my subscription. You don't do that here right?

Yeah, we'd never do that. You pay a one off payment for your term. We never "recharge", which some subscriptions do by using the clever "per month" tag. If you join for two months, you pay for two months - for example. You'll get the offer of resubscription a week or so before the end of term, but if you don't act on it, your term simply runs out. You never have to actually "unsubscribe".

[Rangers75]

Thanks Chris!

[kcrick]

Hey. Is it right you can actually download stuff to your hard drive and keep forever? Or is it where you access things but only until your subscription runs out?

Welcome to the site! It's the former, you download content and keep it forever.

Also I had been a member of another subscription service and they kept charging my card until I wrote them an e-mail to stop charging me and remove my subscription. You don't do that here right?

Yeah, we'd never do that. You pay a one off payment for your term. We never "recharge", which some subscriptions do by using the clever "per month" tag. If you join for two months, you pay for two months - for example. You'll get the offer of resubscription a week or so before the end of term, but if you don't act on it, your term simply runs out. You never have to actually "unsubscribe".

Hey Chris, is it acceptable to say pay for a couple of months, let it expire, and then resubscribe again for another couple of months a little while later?

[Chris Bergin]

Hey. Is it right you can actually download stuff to your hard drive and keep forever? Or is it where you access things but only until your subscription runs out?

Welcome to the site! It's the former, you download content and keep it forever.

Also I had been a member of another subscription service and they kept charging my card until I wrote them an e-mail to stop charging me and remove my subscription. You don't do that here right?

Yeah, we'd never do that. You pay a one off payment for your term. We never "recharge", which some subscriptions do by using the clever "per month" tag. If you join for two months, you pay for two months - for example. You'll get the offer of resubscription a week or so before the end of term, but if you don't act on it, your term simply runs out. You never have to actually "unsubscribe".

Hey Chris, is it acceptable to say pay for a couple of months, let it expire, and then resubscribe again for another couple of months a little while later?

Sure is!

[kcrick]

Hey. Is it right you can actually download stuff to your hard drive and keep forever? Or is it where you access things but only until your subscription runs out?

Welcome to the site! It's the former, you download content and keep it forever.

Also I had been a member of another subscription service and they kept charging my card until I wrote them an e-mail to stop charging me and remove my subscription. You don't do that here right?

Yeah, we'd never do that. You pay a one off payment for your term. We never "recharge", which some subscriptions do by using the clever "per month" tag. If you join for two months, you pay for two months - for example. You'll get the offer of resubscription a week or so before the end of term, but if you don't act on it, your term simply runs out. You never have to actually "unsubscribe".

Hey Chris, is it acceptable to say pay for a couple of months, let it expire, and then resubscribe again for another couple of months a little while later?

Sure is!

Thanks, because I'm considering it.

[KEdward5]

Thanks, because I'm considering it.

You won't be disappointed, other than you'll find you need more than two months to get through all the cool stuff!

[Rangers75]

Thanks, because I'm considering it.

You won't be disappointed, other than you'll find you need more than two months to get through all the cool stuff!

That's the truth! I can't be one percent into this and it's already amazing.

Wish I had known about this sooner, but making up for lost time!

[DavisSTS]

Got to say, I'm loving the way L2 is transitioning. This week's Dream Chaser additions are really great.

[Chris Bergin]

And I'm writing up some DC stuff today, providing nothing breaks in the meantime.

Note to all: Be it confirmation e-mails or resub notices, please check your spam folder, as I noticed one response confirming he was about to resub had my initial e-mail attached with spam in the subject header.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

With the new policy of making the NSF Wild West an L2 posting area, maybe I should re-subscribe again.... which I have been always planning on since I've subscribed for two months last year. It's a treasure trove for spaceflight that I've never seen before.... it's so big that I believe I've only reached the Basement 1 level, and I'm already amazed at the wealth of information, from stunning historical pictures to internal documents from NASA (and hot off the press for some of them!). I definitely recommend every hard-core spaceflight geek to join L2: it's cheaper than a subscription of today's spaceflight magazines.

Good luck to Chris for getting hundreds of new L2 subscriptions on Monday! 

[Chris Bergin]

Thanks GP! I doubt we'll get many L2 members from the Space Policy thread change. It was mainly to keep the civility to a high level, cause it's going to be a painful day by all reckonings. Everyone will still be able to read it, but I can only imagine the food fights if everyone was able to post. It's not called the Wild Wild West for nothing.

I'd honestly prefer new L2 members to join for the goodies we have in there, and to support the site (some people still think we're some sort of company owned site, paying everyone a fat salary and writing articles on a beach. I should post the server invoices and the zero cents I've taken out of this site's revenue).

Appreciate your post a lot!

[Chris Bergin]

Amendment:

Q) If I am NASA, ULA, USA etc. Is L2 free?

A) Yes, simply mail me from your work address (ensuring you've signed up for a username on the forum). Your e-mail will only be used to confirm you are space industry...and only I will receive it, thus will be confidential. There's no condition of becoming a source attached, as much as it would be welcomed. We do, however, expect you to get actively involved, even if it's just answering the occasional question. Treating the site as read only is not welcomed and a "read only" involvement will result in the assumption of an inactive account <---this only applies to free upgraded space industry.

Amendment: Space industry accounts which have been inactive for a period of time will have their L2 access removed.

If you lose your job in the transition (post-Shuttle etc) you will not lose your free access privilege.

[Gary NASA]

Speaking of those at NASA, contractors or in the industry, the updates and discussion from the numerous individuals involved with SLS, from several centers, on the L2 SLS section is actually of a higher quality than official lines.

For me, that is such a strong point of this site and I really appreciate the set up of this site.

[Chris Bergin]

Sorry Gary, I didn't notice this post until now. Really appreciate the kind words.

[HyperTay]

Sure do miss my L2. I've almost got enough in paypal to get it back! Even though as it's been said there's not enough time at all to get through that whole area. Think of Warehouse 13 in files! 

[Chris Bergin]

We've just added our ninth L2 section, the first mission special since STS-135.

[cro-magnon gramps]

Hey Chris,
     Thanks for the quick response, spent about 3 hours this afternoon, scratching the surface; that Tag Cloud is mind blowing; and I really mean that; haven't felt this way, since getting my first computer, just kept going WOW!! and honestly I am not exaggerating my response;
    spent a lot of time on Padrat's photos  totally jaw dropping the whole lot; then into the video feeds; feel like I have walked into Aladdin's Cave; there are other analogies, but this is a public site, and kids have access  but you adults can probably figure out what I am saying;
     if your around Padrat, your one lucky guy, I can't imagine having such a great job, you must literally have to force yourself to ignore the scenery and photo ops  btw, great High Res. sizes;
     oh yeah!! I made the Tag Cloud my home page LOL

Cheers

Gramps

[d3jf]

As I've just re-subscribed for another two months of this drug called L2, I think I should briefly share what it brought to me and what it took away

Before two years ago, I had only occasionally stumbled upon news about shuttle launches and stuff like that, but hadn't pay much attention to it. But then in one of such news articles, there was a link to NASA TV. So I discovered NASA TV ("WOW, is this really live from orbit?") and became hooked.

From then on, I frequented the NASA website but didn't really go into the technical details of things. Until I saw RTLS mentioned somwhere and I thought, wow, that would be one hell of a stunt, and started doing some research.

That's when I came across this forum. I read through some threads of which I could understand barely 50%, but the articles on the site were quite layman-friendly. When the preparations for STS-133  started to become, well, interesting, small screenshots of presentations ceased to satisfy my curiosity, so I started reading through this thread to discover if it was worth it to spend 1 % of my salary on that premium section. After a few posts, I was like "What, all that for so little money? What kind of a crazy person runs this site?"

So I gave it a try. I sent the money and within two hours or so (thank God Chris is only a single timezone away) I had access to an ultimate knowledge base, if you will. And I became hooked really bad.

As a spaceflight newbie, I didn't have the slightest idea about things I now consider basic. I have scavenged information from all corners of L2 and tried to put it all together since then and I have learned a lot, but still barely scratched the surface.

To summarize - L2 is better than college If I read, watched and listened to everything that is on L2, I could become a decent astronaut

And what does L2 take away from me?
- At least 20 % productivity at work
- Free time
- Sleep time
- Hard disk space

Seriously, people, do not even consider buying a subscription, it will crush you. People at work will be looking down at you as the weird guy who looks at shuttles and strange space stations all the time. Friends will be asking you questions about windows in spaceships and rocket engines, and what's worse - you will be able to answer them.

OK, enough typing, will check if there is a new ISS update over at L2 and then get back to work. Oh wait, I saw earlier that the SpaceX cargo manifest is up, have to check that out first, work will wait.

[AndyX]

Hi I joined L2 but forgot to add my username to the note. Hope that is not a problem!

[Chris Bergin]

Hi I joined L2 but forgot to add my username to the note. Hope that is not a problem!

Not a problem at all Andy. I personally receive a notification e-mail and because I personally upgrade people into L2, I can cross reference the e-mail address with the database for the account upgrade, so you're already on and you will have a confirmation e-mail from me to both your e-mail and in your "messages" (top of the forum tool bar in red).

Thanks for your support Andy, enjoy!

[AndyX]

Thanks Chris! And I am, wow! A quick browse show's this is amazing!

[Harly8]

Thanks for the quick upgrade! Loving L2 already!

[MalcolmSpace]

OK I got to get me some of this!

[thebartonfox]

All this talk about L2 for the COTS 2+ mission has finally persuaded me to upgrade. I think I'd better wait until my exams have finished though, I think the amount of revision I get done would suffer dramatically if I upgrade before
I'm now selfishly hoping the mission is delayed again, that way I might get mission  coverage as well...

[kcrick]

Sorry it's taken this long (been very busy) but thanks Chris for the quick upgrade to L2 !!

Sent in the money and within a few minutes I refreshed my browser and - WOW !! Really is a lot of good content !!

Thanks !

[spectre9]

When you go through and find something good say thanks and bump the thread.

It helps those that haven't been on there forever find some of the old stuff.

Somebody bumped some info on the ATK MLAS today that I had no idea was even there. Awesome presentation 

[d3jf]

When you go through and find something good say thanks and bump the thread.

It helps those that haven't been on there forever find some of the old stuff.

Somebody bumped some info on the ATK MLAS today that I had no idea was even there. Awesome presentation 

Not sure how good that idea is... I like hitting a random page and check its content rather than having some old info bumped to the top where most current content should be.
But that's just my opinion...

[Chris Bergin]

Thanks for the great comments above. Really appreciated!

Sorry it's taken this long (been very busy) but thanks Chris for the quick upgrade to L2 !!

Sent in the money and within a few minutes I refreshed my browser and - WOW !! Really is a lot of good content !!

Thanks !

Relevant to this, please note - and as listed on the main L2 sign up page - payments for L2 between 8am GMT and 9pm GMT today (Sunday, May 20, 2012) will result in member upgrading at just after 9pm.

This is because we don't use an automated system, I personally upgrade new members and welcome them (personal service is best, especially for point of contact etc.) However, I'll be in London all day with no internet/e-mail access, praying for a York City win at Wembley Stadium. (Massive game I can't miss. I'm so deleting this if we lose )

So if anyone pays for L2 access between the above times, I'll upgrade you and send you a welcome/confirmation/thank you e-mail and PM when I'm back later today (should be 9pm GMT).

EDIT:
And back to normal now, a win later, and a promotion later!!

[SpaceXFanMan]

Hey Chris, great site! Thanks for the cool coverage of the Dragon mission. Supporting the site for just that although I know there's a SpaceX section tempting me!

Can only join for two months, but hope it helps.

[Chris Bergin]

Hey Chris, great site! Thanks for the cool coverage of the Dragon mission. Supporting the site for just that although I know there's a SpaceX section tempting me!

Can only join for two months, but hope it helps.

Thanks very much! And yes, it all helps!

[ManelR]

Hi everyone I really love the coverage provided by this site, really is great. I am in Spain and wish to join L2. How do I work out what the payment for 20 dollars is in Euros at this moment in time?

[Justin Space]

Hi everyone I really love the coverage provided by this site, really is great. I am in Spain and wish to join L2. How do I work out what the payment for 20 dollars is in Euros at this moment in time?

You don't have to worry about that. It's in US dollars, so you enter 19.99 and it converts it to your local currency automatically and shows you what it works out in your currency before you pay!

[ManelR]

Hi everyone I really love the coverage provided by this site, really is great. I am in Spain and wish to join L2. How do I work out what the payment for 20 dollars is in Euros at this moment in time?

You don't have to worry about that. It's in US dollars, so you enter 19.99 and it converts it to your local currency automatically and shows you what it works out in your currency before you pay!

Oh great, thanks!!

[FinalFrontier]

Wanted to say that L2 is simply fantastic.

Literally tons of information there that you wont find anywhere else.

[Morten C.]

Hi all
Thanks for a great site, amazing what information/knowledge you can find on here, both in the article and forum.

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong section

I have been a silence lurking for some years now (after i found a thread about Copenhagen Suborbitals first launch attempt back in 2010), and now i am thinking about becoming a silence member and trying out the L2 section.
I was wondering about what information there is about the earlier years, like the 2. generation rockets, like the Viking rocket etc. and the early space programs like Mercury and Gemini etc.

Thanks

Regards
Morten

[Chris Bergin]

Hi Morten -

 I'll probably merge this with the main L2 Q&A thread later, but it's a good question as we don't mention our L2 historical section enough.

 I don't know too much about the early days (knowledge wise), so I'll ask someone else to correctly note the sort of items we have, but we have A LOT, right back to the first days of the Cape, tons of hi res photos of the old vehicles (Atlas, Titan, Vanguard, AFMTC and AMR etc.) Gemini, Apollo, Saturn V, videos, manuals and such.

 I'll also do some "Historical Tag" screenshots for a good list sample later today (it's very long).

 So give us today and we'll provide what you need, and it gives us an opportunity to give a good idea of what we have.

[Morten C.]

Thanks a lot Chris

Regards
Morten

[Chris Bergin]

Ok, first, this is how I got the list that follows.

L2 is eight main sections. There's also several hundred subsections - called the L2 Tag Cloud.

There's a lot more "historical" space flight than the list that follows, but from clicking the historical tab, a good sample list can be produced.

This is half of the L2 tag cloud in view.

[Chris Bergin]

Point is, there's a lot more, but it may have been tagged "Gemini" or "Video" or "Images" etc. This is the list that was tagged with "Historical". A lot of the old shuttle missions are missing from "Historical" but would be found under "STS-XX".

Most items on the list contain numberous presentations or images, etc.

Click to enlarge each screenshot.

[riney]

For starters, search for posts by Art LeBrun. His photographic archives are mind-blowing.

--riney

[spectre9]

The contributors to L2 have uploaded incredible imagery from all eras of space flight.

Saturn, Mercury, Gemini it's all there.

Just ventured into the Gemini 6&7 rendezvous thread for the first time 

Trust me Morten well worth it just for the content you're asking about here.

[Tony T. Harris]

L2 is astonishing. Really enjoying the SLS and Commercial Vehicle content. STS was covered in depth and is an amazing repository and historical is superb. I'm getting to see things I didn't when I was actually there!

Finally a good use for the internet!

[rickl]

When I discovered* this site in late December 2010, it was only a few days before my birthday so I treated myself to an L2 subscription.  The historical material alone is worth it.  The "Old School" thread all by itself is almost worth the subscription price.

(*When I attempted to register, I found out that I had already registered in 2007, but never commented.  I have no idea how that happened.  Why would I have gone to the trouble to register but not comment, and why did I completely forget about the site for over three years?  It's a mystery.)

[Morten C.]

Thanks you all for taking the time

You really know how to sell this site...

I'll make myself a paypal account one of these days, and get on with it.
Is it from the first in the month, or from the time the money is transferred?

Thanks again

Regards Morten

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Thanks you all for taking the time

You really know how to sell this site...

I'll make myself a paypal account one of these days, and get on with it.
Is it from the first in the month, or from the time the money is transferred?

Thanks again

Regards Morten

Usually Chris can open your L2 subscription within hours (minutes in both of my cases) of receiving the payment. 

[Lee Jay]

L2 is astonishing.

And Historical is my favorite section.

[Chris Bergin]

Thanks you all for taking the time

You really know how to sell this site...

I'll make myself a paypal account one of these days, and get on with it.
Is it from the first in the month, or from the time the money is transferred?

Thanks again

Regards Morten

You don't need a paypal account. You just click here:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/

Go to the bottom where the link for "you can make your payment with Paypal here" is.

You go through to the secure paypal site and they enter a card number, and complete, if you were buying anything over the internet. It's all the same mechant, just this one is under paypal's name (world's biggest as it's the same as Ebay - same company).

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Thanks you all for taking the time

You really know how to sell this site...

I'll make myself a paypal account one of these days, and get on with it.
Is it from the first in the month, or from the time the money is transferred?

Thanks again

Regards Morten

You don't need a paypal account. You just click here:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/

Go to the bottom where the link for "you can make your payment with Paypal here" is.

You go through to the secure paypal site and they enter a card number, and complete, if you were buying anything over the internet. It's all the same mechant, just this one is under paypal's name (world's biggest as it's the same as Ebay - same company).

And more importantly: co-founded by Elon Musk  (yeah I know, he sold off his shares some years ago, and is OT). Anyway I can promise you that resources on L2 shall not disappoint you!

[d3jf]

Thanks you all for taking the time

You really know how to sell this site...

I'll make myself a paypal account one of these days, and get on with it.
Is it from the first in the month, or from the time the money is transferred?

Thanks again

Regards Morten

You don't need a paypal account. You just click here:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/

Go to the bottom where the link for "you can make your payment with Paypal here" is.

You go through to the secure paypal site and they enter a card number, and complete, if you were buying anything over the internet. It's all the same mechant, just this one is under paypal's name (world's biggest as it's the same as Ebay - same company).

Actually, when I was making the payment yesterday, it required me to create an account and link my credit card to it, which it didn't do before.
But you don't have to transfer any money to the account, it just simplifies the process in the future.

[Morten C.]

Well must say money well spend. After a few days on L2, the only thing i am missing is sleep!!

As i told Chris, this site is amazing even without L2, and really don't know what tops amazing, but it does.

I have mainly been looking at videos, mostly the early stuff. I have collected a list of earlier stuff from Youtube, where most of it i have not found on here. Can be i have not looked enough, but if it have interest i can put some of it here.

I have launches of Jupiter, Viking, Vanguard, earlier satellites like Explorer, Corona Project, documentary ect.

Think i have over 100 links to Youtube films, all earlier stuff from the 50ies and 60ies

I really, really need some sleep.... well after another video 

Regards
Morten

[Chris Bergin]

That's great to hear, Morten

Youtube videos aren't relevant to L2, as there's no youtube videos on L2 (obviously) and no L2 videos on youtube (and that's the way it'll stay ). I'm sure if there's a relevant thread in the open forum's Historical section, such a youtube video can be added, but yeah, not relevant to this thread or L2.

[Morten C.]

It was the open forum i was thinking about, sorry for not specify that.
No need to have a close forum, if it is stuff you can find else were 

Regards
Morten

[DanielISS]

Hi, So if I joined L2 and downloaded things (can you download to your harddrive?) you get to keep them forever, not just for the length of term?

[Chris Bergin]

Hi, So if I joined L2 and downloaded things (can you download to your harddrive?) you get to keep them forever, not just for the length of term?

Hey Daniel -

 Yes, you can download anything to your hard drive and it's yours to keep. Only rule is not to then reupload it to another site, obviously!

[DanielISS]

Thanks! L2 is amazing! So many cool things to enjoy!

[AndyX]

Hey Chris. My six months will be up soonish and I totally want to resub, especially with the Dragon mission, but L2's amazing throughout anyway.

What do I need to do? Want to resub for a year this time for sure.

[Chris Bergin]

Hey Chris. My six months will be up soonish and I totally want to resub, especially with the Dragon mission, but L2's amazing throughout anyway.

What do I need to do? Want to resub for a year this time for sure.

Good stuff Andy! I'm very happy you're happy and I'm happy you will be continuing to support the site!

What happens is you will get a message from me (really from me, not a bot) noting you are coming to the end of your term. You'll then gain discounted (for renewals of six months or more) resub options (two months, six months, one year or lifetime).

You do NOT have to do anything to unsubscribe, your term will simply end at the end of its term (some sites try and catch you out with that, we don't). But if you do wish to resub, you can either do it before the end of your term (overlap is added on to the term), or come back later.

You can renew/top up at any time, but most people tend to do it a week or so ahead of end of term to ensure continuous access to L2.

I'll send you your resub option message now so you have it to hand!

Thanks again! And if anyone else reading this has any questions on renewals, post here or send me a message.

[thebartonfox]

I joined L2 yesterday and the only real way to describe it is: WOW! The amount of information on there is overwhelming, if there is anything NASA related you want to know, L2 will have it. There's amazing high quality pictures from some of the earliest missions, reports and literally hundreds of pictures from the final shuttle missions, as well as virtually everything in between. There are updates from Chris's sources that give a great insight into breaking news in the industry, hours before the public even get a sniff of what's going on (often on this site anyway).

The video section is outstanding, and the STS-115 re-entry video from INSIDE the cockpit is worth the cost of L2 membership alone (and then some!). That video lets you sit back and be right there with the astronauts, you feel like one of them yourself. And that's just one of the hundreds of fantastic videos on L2, I just hope that I manage to look through them all!

The historical section I honestly don't think words can describe, the wealth of documents and information makes the what NASA achieved in the 60's seem even more incredible. The only bad thing about looking through it is that you can't decide which picture you want as your new desktop background  I must have changed mine at least 20 times since yesterday!

Seriously though, if anybody is considering joining, just do it. Don't waste another moment thinking "shall I?". It's not even $20 for 2 months, and for that you, quite literally, are taken to a whole new level. A couple of words of warning though: you'll have a lot less free time, because you will "need" to finish reading that document you just downloaded. You also need to get yourself a decent sized external hard drive, because if you don't you will suddenly find you have no space left on your internal one because of those 150GB of shuttle videos you downloaded from L2

Massive thanks to Chris and the team for making L2 so amazing.

Join. NOW!

[psloss]

You also need to get yourself a decent sized external hard drive, because if you don't you will suddenly find you have no space left on your internal one because of those 150GB of shuttle videos you downloaded from L2

Get a big one, because we're still adding stuff. 

[Chris Bergin]

I joined L2 yesterday and the only real way to describe it is: WOW! The amount of information on there is overwhelming, if there is anything NASA related you want to know, L2 will have it. There's amazing high quality pictures from some of the earliest missions, reports and literally hundreds of pictures from the final shuttle missions, as well as virtually everything in between. There are updates from Chris's sources that give a great insight into breaking news in the industry, hours before the public even get a sniff of what's going on (often on this site anyway).

The video section is outstanding, and the STS-115 re-entry video from INSIDE the cockpit is worth the cost of L2 membership alone (and then some!). That video lets you sit back and be right there with the astronauts, you feel like one of them yourself. And that's just one of the hundreds of fantastic videos on L2, I just hope that I manage to look through them all!

The historical section I honestly don't think words can describe, the wealth of documents and information makes the what NASA achieved in the 60's seem even more incredible. The only bad thing about looking through it is that you can't decide which picture you want as your new desktop background  I must have changed mine at least 20 times since yesterday!

Seriously though, if anybody is considering joining, just do it. Don't waste another moment thinking "shall I?". It's not even $20 for 2 months, and for that you, quite literally, are taken to a whole new level. A couple of words of warning though: you'll have a lot less free time, because you will "need" to finish reading that document you just downloaded. You also need to get yourself a decent sized external hard drive, because if you don't you will suddenly find you have no space left on your internal one because of those 150GB of shuttle videos you downloaded from L2

Massive thanks to Chris and the team for making L2 so amazing.

Join. NOW!

We should frame that and place it on the site's entrance hall for visitors to see! Wonderful post, thanks!

[TerryNC]

Joined L2 because I just wanted to say thanks to the site for being so helpful and didn't really expect much of a bonus by accessing L2.

Wrong. L2's amazing!! Why don't you guys advertise it better, I didn't know it was THAT big and cool!

[ohlongjohnson]

I just have to say how much i LOVE L2!

It's a shame I don't find the time to dig more into the shuttle stuff and all the historic data, but even without that, it is just pure gold!

The word "new" in "news" just gets a new meaning

I just LOVED it to read about the spacex engine anomaly on the last flight way before getting any info whatsoever anywhere else.

Also, just reading "L2 Ringfenced..." in the "Active @ NSF Forum" part on the nasaspaceflight.com homepage gets my adrenaline pumping everytime

You should install paypal/flattr buttons on every l2 page, so i can more easily submit to the urge to give you some extra money as a sign of appreciation of the aweseomeness of this site!

Thanks a lot for being awesome!
joe

P.S.: I am serious about the paypal/flattr button!

[Chris Bergin]

Very nice - and touching - posts guys! Really appreciate it!

As far as a donate style option, you've just done that by joining L2. Technically, when you pay for L2, you are paying to support the site's running costs. As a gift in return, you get to access the L2 sections, where we host massive chunks of the database, such as those huge videos and such....

...it's grown since, with the insider stuff, but that's just another bonus.

If you're willing to donate additional help, then you can use the same facility - given it's a blank total to allow people to enter how long they want to join L2 for by a money amount.

You can either top up your L2 term via that, buy someone else a L2 membership, or just send some money! I'm the only person who gets the notification of the payment, so I'd get to see how you want it allocating, or I'd ask you in response to the notification.

All greatfully received, given it's coming up to the holidays where people are less likely to buy a L2 membership, given they assume the site will shut down over the holidays - which it never does.

[kch]

To the mystery donor who just gave me an upgrade to L2, Thank You!  It's *very* much appreciated. 

[AndyX]

Love L2. Renewing is the most obvious thing to do.

[Chris Bergin]

Love L2. Renewing is the most obvious thing to do.

Good man Andy!

[john smith 19]

Many thanks to the mystery donor for my years L2 membership. It's a terrific (and completely unexpected) Christmas present.

[Thunderbird5]

Remember, L2 isn't just for Christmas, it's for life.

 

[W88Larry]

Well I joined L2, only to say thanks for the amazing site and help it pay its way which anyone with a conscience should do, but just minutes in and I can see there's enough content in L2 to keep me occupied for years. Great job building all of that!

[Chris Bergin]

Remember, L2 isn't just for Christmas, it's for life.

 

Very true sir!

Well I joined L2, only to say thanks for the amazing site and help it pay its way which anyone with a conscience should do, but just minutes in and I can see there's enough content in L2 to keep me occupied for years. Great job building all of that!

Love that Larry, thanks so much! I wish the other 99.9 percent of visitors to this site were of a like mind!

[Chris Bergin]

L2 increased to 10 master sections with the return of the mission special section, which we will use for CRS missions (SpaceX and Orbital).

[gbaikie]

I just noticed an unnamed donor provided me subscription.
I guess by date of message, I should have been checking my messages earlier. I do my best to make up for lost time.
Thank-you, unnamed donor!

[MP99]

The only bad thing about looking through it is that you can't decide which picture you want as your new desktop background  I must have changed mine at least 20 times since yesterday!

I bet there's a way you can setup your desktop to have a slideshow of all your favourites. 

cheers, Martin

[Ben and Paul]

Hi. Me and my family are really into space flight and we love this site's news articles, so we were thinking about getting L2.

Do we need to get separate accounts, or would we be able to use this account between us? It would only be for the PC in the home office, which we take turns in using.

[Chris Bergin]

Hi. Me and my family are really into space flight and we love this site's news articles, so we were thinking about getting L2.

Do we need to get separate accounts, or would we be able to use this account between us? It would only be for the PC in the home office, which we take turns in using.

Thanks for the kind words!

Yes, you'd only require this account your on right now to be upgraded to L2.

[Ben and Paul]

Thanks Chris. Joined and wow L2 is amazing. Didn't know there was THAT much in there.

First five things out of 10,000 or so was worth the subscription alone. Great to know the subscription is helping the site and not some publishing company with no face too.

[Lee Jay]

Thanks Chris. Joined and wow L2 is amazing. Didn't know there was THAT much in there.

First five things out of 10,000 or so was worth the subscription alone. Great to know the subscription is helping the site and not some publishing company with no face too.

13 hours since your question post.  I think this points out what a great deal L2 is.  If it makes itself worthwhile in half a day, the other 364 1/2 days of the year are like a free bonus!

[Margaret G]

Hi Chris.

 A friend who is interested in NASA told me about this site. I a teacher who is researching materials for a class about astronauts for my 8th grade students.

 He told me there are some amazing camcorder videos on L2 filmed by the astronauts during a full reentry including through the fire of reentry and the landing segment.

 Is that true?

 If so, would I be able to show the videos to my class as part of the materials? I don't mind paying extra.

 Thank you,
 Margaret.

[Chris Bergin]

Hi Chris.

 A friend who is interested in NASA told me about this site. I a teacher who is researching materials for a class about astronauts for my 8th grade students.

 He told me there are some amazing camcorder videos on L2 filmed by the astronauts during a full reentry including through the fire of reentry and the landing segment.

 Is that true?

 If so, would I be able to show the videos to my class as part of the materials? I don't mind paying extra.

 Thank you,
 Margaret.

Hey Margaret -

 Yep, we've got several of those videos on L2. They start just before the deorbit burn and run through to post landing checks, about 2hrs in length. Best one is STS-115's entry with Atlantis as it's visually wonderful and the crew are very chatty throughout.

 L2 Link: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=4789.0

 I can see you're a teacher per your e-mail address (only I can see it ) so I'll get you on L2 for free and you can use anything for your class.

 Let me know if you need any additional help as we've got a lot more cool stuff in L2 that would get the kids excited. Any chance to get schoolkids into space flight is a big deal and we've helped a number of teachers over the years along these lines.

 Check your PMs (the red "My Messages" on the top bar) for your L2 access confirmation message and quick look overview.

 Best,
 Chris.

[Margaret G]

Thank you so much for the fast response and the kindness! I tried NASA outreach and education for the past two weeks and couldn't get anyone to reply to an e-mail or answer the phone.

You just gave me everything I want in five minutes!

Thank you, thank you!!
Margaret.

[Justin Space]

I doubt there's many/any other sites who would help a teacher and a class like this.

[Chris Bergin]

L2 now up to 11 specific sections with the debut of the L2 Orbital (OSC) section, including all vehicles (including Pegasus etc.) and designed mainly for Orbital Antares/Cygnus missions.

[Michael Z Freeman]

Hello just joined L2 and have a question. I'm a little overwhelmed by the hugeness of the archive, but the intro at the top of the thread helped, tag usage and so forth. This thing is big !

(edit by Carl - Rest is a question on a specific L2 section, not here in the open forum).

[Chris Bergin]

Ah, I see what Carl meant now, when he sent me what you were asking for (per the ISS L2 Shopping List, where requests should be posted, not here) and you'll be happy to know those Russian EVA presentations for tomorrow acquired and published here:

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=33605.0 - with more resources.

and

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=33606.0

[Michael Z Freeman]

Thanks ! I'll repost in the appropriate forum.

[R.Simko]

I don't see any choice for a LIFETIME membership in the L2 sign up.  Can anyone direct me?  Thanks.

[Chris Bergin]

I don't see any choice for a LIFETIME membership in the L2 sign up.  Can anyone direct me?  Thanks.

It's not available at sign up. It's an option for renewers, as we had several one yearers who kept renewing and the questions about a lifetime level membership was mentioned, so we created that facility in the resub option.

I'll PM you! (And any current L2 members who want to know that option, PM me).

[MarineJJD]

I've come to the end of my service with the Marines and I want to now pay for the L2 Chris gave me for free. How do I subscribe as a paying member?

I want to thank Chris and NSF for getting me through some tough times on tour. Nothing like gathering the guys around for a crazy shuttle re-entry video after a day in the hole.

[Chris Bergin]

I've come to the end of my service with the Marines and I want to now pay for the L2 Chris gave me for free. How do I subscribe as a paying member?

I want to thank Chris and NSF for getting me through some tough times on tour. Nothing like gathering the guys around for a crazy shuttle re-entry video after a day in the hole.

You won't ever have to put your hand in your pocket on here. You're on a lifetime membership.

Thanks for your service and welcome home, sir.

[MarineJJD]

I've come to the end of my service with the Marines and I want to now pay for the L2 Chris gave me for free. How do I subscribe as a paying member?

I want to thank Chris and NSF for getting me through some tough times on tour. Nothing like gathering the guys around for a crazy shuttle re-entry video after a day in the hole.

You won't ever have to put your hand in your pocket on here. You're on a lifetime membership.

Thanks for your service and welcome home, sir.

That's amazing. Thank you so much!

[German Space Fan]

Hello,
I'm thinking about joining L2. Why? I'm member in the German space forum Raumcon. And I just couldn't stand conversations with L2-members like this: "Are there already results of SpaceX's hotfire test?- Yes, but I'm not allowed to tell you which." This and so much positive feedback in this thread made me think of subscribing. But I have two questions:
1. Someone told me that the content is mainly about SpaceX. Of course I'm interested in what they're doing, but I'm not a fan. Is it L2 only worth for SpaceX-amazing peoples or will a SLS/Boeing-fan like me be happy too?
2. Sometimes I write online articles about space themes in German. I'm not a real journalist and of course I will be very careful about not using L2-content for my articles, but does the fact that I'm in theory a "competing" journalist exclude me automatically from joining L2?

Please excuse my bad english.

[Avron]

Hello,
I'm thinking about joining L2. Why? I'm member in the German space forum Raumcon. And I just couldn't stand conversations with L2-members like this: "Are there already results of SpaceX's hotfire test?- Yes, but I'm not allowed to tell you which." This and so much positive feedback in this thread made me think of subscribing. But I have two questions:
1. Someone told me that the content is mainly about SpaceX. Of course I'm interested in what they're doing, but I'm not a fan. Is it L2 only worth for SpaceX-amazing peoples or will a SLS/Boeing-fan like me be happy too?
2. Sometimes I write online articles about space themes in German. I'm not a real journalist and of course I will be very careful about not using L2-content for my articles, but does the fact that I'm in theory a "competing" journalist exclude me automatically from joining L2?

Please excuse my bad english.

tonnes of LMT NASA stuff..

[Chris Bergin]

Hello,
I'm thinking about joining L2. Why? I'm member in the German space forum Raumcon. And I just couldn't stand conversations with L2-members like this: "Are there already results of SpaceX's hotfire test?- Yes, but I'm not allowed to tell you which." This and so much positive feedback in this thread made me think of subscribing. But I have two questions:
1. Someone told me that the content is mainly about SpaceX. Of course I'm interested in what they're doing, but I'm not a fan. Is it L2 only worth for SpaceX-amazing peoples or will a SLS/Boeing-fan like me be happy too?
2. Sometimes I write online articles about space themes in German. I'm not a real journalist and of course I will be very careful about not using L2-content for my articles, but does the fact that I'm in theory a "competing" journalist exclude me automatically from joining L2?

Please excuse my bad english.

Hey there. Your English is better than my German!

1) As you can see from the 11 L2 sections, the L2 SpaceX section is just a part of L2. It's a lot for a SpaceX fan, but we've got far more on SLS, Shuttle, ISS.

2) That does not exclude you. We already have journalists in L2 and they respect L2's rules.

[German Space Fan]

Hey there. Your English is better than my German!

Yes, at least one positive effect of having taken English lessons for 7 schoolyears!

OK, if there are no problems, I'm gonna join L2 as soon as possible.

[Ford Mustang]

I think you'll be rather pleased with L2, even if you aren't a SpaceX fan.  There's a heap of other information on L2 from things ranging from the 1950's to future projects.  It's a great resource all around, and there's lots to learn.  Welcome aboard!

[MP99]

1. Someone told me that the content is mainly about SpaceX. Of course I'm interested in what they're doing, but I'm not a fan. Is it L2 only worth for SpaceX-amazing peoples or will a SLS/Boeing-fan like me be happy too?

You've probably stopped seeing it, since we learn to block these things out, but if you're using a desktop browser there is a banner in the page header which lists a series of L2 highlights.

Just watch it for a couple of minutes until it's cycled all the way through, to get a flavour.

Edit: there is content, and then there is discussion. The open forum will give you a good idea of the relative weights of discussion of various topics in L2. But mods make a lot of effort to ensure that L2 discussions are focused on L2 content, and not allowed to descend into some form of cliquey / insider thing - which is as it should be.

cheers, Martin

[Mark McCombs]

After sitting on the fence for a couple months, I am very glad that I started supporting the site and receiving the L2 content.         Worth the price to be sure.

Now - I just realized there was no mention of a 12 step program.  I am doomed.  Space-anon?  HELP!!

[MarshallB]

I use this site just to hear more about launches because I live less than two hours from the cape.  I really don't have time (who needs yet another hobby!) to go through the wealth of information available on L2, but I would like to support the site.  I'm actually afraid I'd spend too much time reading the site and going outside to play if I had L2 access.

Is there an intermediate option available that helps pay for the servers?

[Chris Bergin]

I use this site just to hear more about launches because I live less than two hours from the cape.  I really don't have time (who needs yet another hobby!) to go through the wealth of information available on L2, but I would like to support the site.  I'm actually afraid I'd spend too much time reading the site and going outside to play if I had L2 access.

Is there an intermediate option available that helps pay for the servers?

Heh! I just pictured your friends outside you door with a ball and sad faces because you were too busy with the site

Well here's the thing....L2 started - and continues to be - a support mechanism to pay for the servers (it's into a paypal account and that account is used to pay the host in Dallas - it's that tied into it all). We structured L2 to repay those supporting the site, but if someone wanted to support the site, they can, even if they don't use the L2 access (which is a bit of a shame as L2 is cool).

Bottom line is the L2 payment page is a blank box (where you enter a set amount based on how much of a L2 term you want), but anyone can put in any figure and say "donation" and it'll work just fine that way.

A bit blown away by those who look to L2 to support, as opposed to "I want something in L2".

[gonucelar]

Question - if I subscribe to L2 and then get banned e.g. for disrespectful posts in the forum, will I still be able to access the L2 content after that?

Also, it appears that there are some "rules" in effect that prohibit L2 members even from retelling what they learned in the L2 section. Is this true? Where can I see the fine print?

Thanks

[Chris Bergin]

Question - if I subscribe to L2 and then get banned e.g. for disrespectful posts in the forum, will I still be able to access the L2 content after that?

Also, it appears that there are some "rules" in effect that prohibit L2 members even from retelling what they learned in the L2 section. Is this true? Where can I see the fine print?

Thanks

Heh! Not sure why you'd say that other than you plan to be disrespectful? I hope not!

Point is not to be disrespectful, but it's not like we throw bans around. A ban is very, very rare here - and a last resort. Heck, there's disagreements on here every hour of the day. It's a very large forum with lots of different "personalities". It's not like we'd ban someone for this:



But if you turned into some troll monster and was posting horrendous comments everywhere - and couldn't be turned around via warnings - then yes a ban would mean you'd lose access to the entire site. A lot of things would have to go wrong with your time here to end up being actually banned though, but you'd only have yourself to blame if it came to that.

The rules of L2 is not to republish L2 content on other sites. There's an obvious reason for that.

We turn as much L2 content around into news content - for our site - but it would defeat the whole purpose if someone started downloading or passing on L2 stuff and uploading it on youtube or social media.

Also, some items are provided to us under the understanding they are acceptable for the much smaller - and space industry heavy - audience of L2, compared to the much larger audience of the open site and all those people peeking in. That latter part means that if I won the lottery and could self fund this site, I still wouldn't be able to open up L2 as another open part of the forum. So it's not about hoarding or anything like that. We make the regular forum as strong as it is (forget about L2, this is a very strong forum) and have L2 really as another level.

So it's not fine print, it's just an obvious rule.

Providing you're not planning to tell everyone they all sink and then leak everything - the two intimations in your post - you'll be fine!

[alang]

Have you considered offering a read only L2 service at a small discount?

[Chris Bergin]

Have you considered offering a read only L2 service at a small discount?

Nope Read Only would be exactly the same as simply not posting. The only way to enforce read only would be to ban you from posting, which seems incredibly silly.

So no, we won't be doing that.

[dak4482]

Hi Chris,

Been a while since I've been on regularly. Am wondering what happened to all the mission files for the older shuttle missions. I Lost my copies in a lightning strike/computer fry and looking to redownload a bunch. I still have some on DVD from STS-114 thru STS-121. Looking for things like the execute packages, flight readiness reviews, and the flight plan walk-thrus, etc along with the hundreds of pages of discussions and associated documents that were posted during each mission. For as many missions and as far back as possible. Were these all removed? Any help would be appreciated if they are still here.

thx,

DAN

[AnalogMan]

Hi Chris,

Been a while since I've been on regularly. Am wondering what happened to all the mission files for the older shuttle missions. I Lost my copies in a lightning strike/computer fry and looking to redownload a bunch. I still have some on DVD from STS-114 thru STS-121. Looking for things like the execute packages, flight readiness reviews, and the flight plan walk-thrus, etc along with the hundreds of pages of discussions and associated documents that were posted during each mission. For as many missions and as far back as possible. Were these all removed? Any help would be appreciated if they are still here.

thx,

DAN

A good place to start is the "tags" page:

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=tags


I've listed a few key tags that will have the kind of documents you are looking for:

FRR          https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=tags;tagid=1253

SSP FRR   https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=tags;tagid=1544

MOD FRR  https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=tags;tagid=1328

PRCB        https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=tags;tagid=1355

MMT          https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=tags;tagid=1325

Execute Packages were usually public documents - many can be found by typing the following into google:

                STS-xxx FD MSG filetype:pdf site:nasa.gov

replacing xxx by the mission of interest.

You can also use the individual STS-xxx tags to get a listing of L2 threads to hunt for other interesting documents.

Edit to add:  All the original STS L2 threads can be found in the "L2 Master Section"

                https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?board=27.0

[Chris Bergin]

Yeah, I didn't see this post, but he also PM'ed me - and he noticed he was making an error with the search. He's found what he's looking for now.

Great post above all the same!

(However, for the record, nothing's been trimmed back per the site database, everything still goes back to 2005)

[dak4482]

Hi again all,

Thx for the quick responses. Sorry for the late response but wife was taken to the hospital and thats been taking up my time as I'm sure you can understand.

Yes it was definitely not the fault of the server or site. I was looking at the search the wrong way and after some patient direction from Chris all is well. and I'll be starting to rebuild my files.

Thx again.

Dan