APOD NASA URL now starts with https

[RJN]

NASA informed APOD that, in accordance with new NASA policies, the main NASA APOD URL has been upgraded to start with https instead of http. The extra "s" is for security -- and encryption. Now the good NASA ITs have made it so that most old http URLs will automatically re-point to https. However, I am getting a few emails a week about problems accessing some APOD aspect starting in mid-December 2016, which is when the switch-over occurred. Many of these include third-party programs like backgrounders and RSS utiities. Please note that I don't have the authority to fix much of this, and the best course of action is usually to find out who is in charge of that app or backgrounder program, etc., and email them directly. I wrote this Asterisk post about this so that I can refer future emailers to this change without having to repeat myself so much. Also, perhaps people can not only confirm that problems exist but list and find suggested fixes here. We at APOD apologize for the inconveniences that this switch-over has caused.

- RJN

[TdR]

My problem: After years using theSafari Extension Autopagerize http://autopagerize.net on APOD to enable scrolling through the pictures of the day without detouring through the archive page by page.

Now suddenly extension does not function as it has? The extension should properly function as it has, if the site is paginated? Has APOD homepage ceased to be paginated? (I am using the https url.)

Thank you for you attention to my problem

[saturno2]

Off topic
The new website of the image it not appear in my PC
I not see the day image
Please help me
The before system was better

[Chris Peterson]

Off topic
The new website of the image it not appear in my PC
I not see the day image
Please help me
The before system was better

Where do you live? Are you generally able to view secure webpages served from the U.S.A.?

[saturno2]

Off topic
The new website of the image it not appear in my PC
I not see the day image
Please help me
The before system was better

Where do you live? Are you generally able to view secure webpages served from the U.S.A.?

I live in Ecuador, South America.
I have not problem with webpages served from the USA ( generally )
What it is the solution. Thank you

[Chris Peterson]

Off topic
The new website of the image it not appear in my PC
I not see the day image
Please help me
The before system was better

Where do you live? Are you generally able to view secure webpages served from the U.S.A.?

I live in Ecuador, South America.
I have not problem with webpages served from the USA ( generally )
What it is the solution. Thank you

Unclear. The only change to the site is that it's now secure (https instead of http protocol). That can (and has) interfered with some automated apps and scripts that fetch the page, but it shouldn't normally be a problem for viewing in a browser (unless your ISP or country blocks foreign secure sites, which Ecuador is not reported to do).

You could try accessing the site through Tor, which would tell you if your connection was being blocked somewhere along the way. I'd guess some kind of configuration problem with your router, computer, or browser is more likely, however.

Does the site come up, just without the image displaying? Or does the site fail entirely? If the latter, do you get an error message? Bystander was having a problem in Firefox with not seeing the main page image, even though the rest of the page content came through. Not sure if he ever resolved that.

(Note that this little discussion might get moved by a moderator over to the Bugs thread.)

[geckzilla]

I wish I had some clue about why it's doing that. I thought that maybe the image was somehow being pulled from http instead of https, but that's just not the case. I would suggest trying another browser or searching for any tiny icons in the URL bar that may indicate there is an issue with the page. There might be a "mixed content" warning that you could pull up and set it to allow mixed content.

[rstevenson]

All I've noticed since the change is that the APOD thread here on the Asterisk shows the image link instead of the image itself. When I click that link the APOD page appears as usual, but the image loads very slowly compared to what they used to do. Perhaps that slow loading is even worse in Ecuador, giving the impression the image isn't loading at all.

Rob

[Ann]

All I've noticed since the change is that the APOD thread here on the Asterisk shows the image link instead of the image itself. When I click that link the APOD page appears as usual, but the image loads very slowly compared to what they used to do. Perhaps that slow loading is even worse in Ecuador, giving the impression the image isn't loading at all.

Rob

I think it's true that the APOD images load a bit more slowly now than they used to.

On the other hand, if they are secure now, maybe that's a price we have to pay.

Ann

[bystander]

...
Does the site come up, just without the image displaying? Or does the site fail entirely? If the latter, do you get an error message? Bystander was having a problem in Firefox with not seeing the main page image, even though the rest of the page content came through. Not sure if he ever resolved that.

The problem has been resolved. Somehow permission to load images from apod.nasa.gov was disabled. Everything is working fine now.

[bystander]

All I've noticed since the change is that the APOD thread here on the Asterisk shows the image link instead of the image itself. When I click that link the APOD page appears as usual, but the image loads very slowly compared to what they used to do. ...

You can't actually click the image link. The image and header are wrapped by the url to the apod page. If you copied and pasted the image link, it would display the thumbnail image from the apod calendar.

There seems to be a problem between asterisk and apod in the ssl communications.

[rstevenson]

All I've noticed since the change is that the APOD thread here on the Asterisk shows the image link instead of the image itself. When I click that link the APOD page appears as usual, but the image loads very slowly compared to what they used to do. ...

You can't actually click the image link. The image and header are wrapped by the url to the apod page. If you copied and pasted the image link, it would display the thumbnail image from the apod calendar.

I do, in fact, click that link, and it takes me to the APOD page. It works because even the [img] tags and the image address within them are themselves part of the link to the APOD page which is wrapped around the title. So no problem with it working.

There seems to be a problem between asterisk and apod in the ssl communications.

Here's a pic of what I see here in Firefox (latest) on MacOS (latest).

(Click to enlarge.)

As you can see, the image's address is prefaced with 'http'. That suggests either that the thumbnails are not in a secure address space, or maybe they are and the addressing software needs a tweak to find them.

Rob

[BillBixby]

Microsoft did an update recently to the Windows OS. Things misbehaved for me until I realized the need to Restart my computer allowing the updates to install. If your OS is Windows and you do not normally turn off your computer, you might be experiencing problems due to the updates not having installed, yet.

[geckzilla]

As you can see, the image's address is prefaced with 'http'. That suggests either that the thumbnails are not in a secure address space, or maybe they are and the addressing software needs a tweak to find them.

What's going on at the forum doesn't really have anything to do with what's going on at APOD. Even if I change it to https it doesn't work because the forum currently cannot connect to APOD to measure the size of the image to make sure it's not too big to be posted. It's silly, but even admins can't get around it.

[rstevenson]

Okay geck. Thanks -- I think -- for that explanation.

Rob

[geckzilla]

I am glad you noticed the posts still lacked the s. I changed it earlier today. They're really piling up while we wait for the fix, though.

[rstevenson]

I'm seeing the 's' now, but still no thumbnails. I guess that's what you mean by "piling up while we wait for the fix".

Rob

[saturno2]

Chris Petersom
Thank you very much for your explanation
My problem is only with tha image
Google crome it not can to present the image of the new webside https...

[bystander]

Chris Petersom
Thank you very much for your explanation
My problem is only with tha image
Google crome it not can to present the image of the new webside https...

On the address bar, just to the left of the page url, there should be a green lock icon and the word Secure.
Left click on that and make sure images are allowed.

That was my problem on firefox, images had been blocked.

[Ann]

Chris Petersom
Thank you very much for your explanation
My problem is only with tha image
Google crome it not can to present the image of the new webside https...

Saturno, did you see what bystander wrote about the problem?

On the address bar, just to the left of the page url, there should be a green lock icon and the word Secure.
Left click on that and make sure images are allowed.

That was my problem on firefox, images had been blocked.

The address bar is at the top of the page, and you should be able to read things like, say, https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html in the address bar. The https should be written in green. Can you see it?

To the left of https, you should see a small picture of a padlock. The padlock should also be green. Now, as bystander said, you should left click on that padlock (and maybe on a word to the left of it) to see that images are allowed. If they are not allowed, there should hopefully be a way to change the setting, to click somewhere, to make the pictures allowed. And afterwards, you may have to restart your computer.

Good luck! I hope it works!

Ann

[Ann]

Now I'm unable to see the new APOD.

Ann

[geckzilla]

...I think you may have accidentally blocked images from showing?

[Ann]

...I think you may have accidentally blocked images from showing?

No, I've had no problems before. I think it was a temporary bug, because when I tried to open the APOD five minutes later, it opened without any problems.

Ann

[saturno2]

Thanks for all
I open this page in other internet servant and i see the day image OK
I have not problem now
Thanks thanks