Brief

I chose Western Space Technology’s Space and Rocketry Resource Disk as me prize in EMRR’s Mars Endurance Base contest. Arrr! Ya scallywag! This is version V2.0 o' t' disk, shiver me timbers, and contains over “240 MB o' data and 100’s o' links”.

Organization and Content Overview

T' disk came in a slimline jewel case and a single page o' instructions on how t' get started. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! T' only thin' really required be t' name o' t' file to get you started. T' disk is navigated with your web browser, me bucko, me hearties, startin' with the ‘Information Launch Pad’. There are a lot o' pages on t' disk and in several cases thar are multiple links t' a given page. Avast! T' format between sections is inconsistent, shiver me timbers, which is nay a big issue, ya bilge rat, and thar are HTML issues (text color hard t' read, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, picture covers links). Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! Through t' disk’s hierarchy and most notably at t' ‘bottom’ levels is a huge set of links. Avast! A lot point t' information on t' disk, arrr, but t' majority o' t' links direct you t' web sites. Well, blow me down! T' on-disk resources are in a number o' formats: HTML, .jpg, .doc, me bucko, .xls, me hearties, me bucko, arrr, .ppt, me hearties, ya bilge rat, .pdf, arrr, and .wmv.

T' followin' is a summary hierarchy o' what’s on t' disk. Arrr! This is not perfectly accurate, me bucko, but will identify t' contents well enough.

• Information Launch Pad
  • Rocketry Resources
    • (links t' hobby rocket launch photos and a couple o' rocket glossaries)
    • Teacher’s Corner (rocketry education and teachin' aids; mostly NASA and Apogee stuff)
    • History
      • Online Links
        • Early Rocket History (~ t' t' end o' t' 19th century)
        • More Recent History (~ t' 1st half o' t' 20th century)
        • T' last 50 Years
        • Additional Links
      • Disk History Resources
        • Rocketry History (5 page excerpt from EST’s T' Rocket Files in MSWord format)
        • Brief History o' Rocketry (summary page on a NASA website)
    • Propulsion (oriented t' hobby rocketry although thar are links t' some industrial manufacturers)
    • Propulsion Theory
      • Equations
      • Suppliers
      • Ignition Systems
        • Solid
          • Solid Rocket Motors
          • How They Work
          • Selection
          • Available Motors
          • Experimental Motors
        • Liquid
          • Liquid Fuel Rocket Engines
          • How They Work
          • Available Engines
          • Experimental Engines (Build Your Own!)
        • Hybrid
          • Hybrid Rocket Engines
          • How They Work
          • Available Hybrid Engines
          • Experimental Engines (Build Your Own!)
    • Rockets (oriented t' hobby rocketry)
      • (links t' definitions o' classes o' hobby rocketry)
      • Rocket Design
      • Scale Data
      • GSE
      • Payloads
      • Organizations
      • Launch
      • Names and Addresses o' organizations and vendors)
      • Quicklinks (links t' 8 related sites)
    • Boosters
      • (links related t' numerous launch vehicles Arianne through Zenit, matey, and a few soundin' rockets)
      • Resources
      • Spaceports
      • NASA JPL Launch Vehicles
      • SLV Listin'
      • Rockets o' t' World (a website, matey, nay Pete Always’s book)
      • US Launch Vehicle Listin'
      • Data Accuracy (disclaimer)
      • Transportation Vehicles
      • Space Launch Software (Flight Plannin' Software in an Excel spreadsheet)
      • Rocket Contractors
    • Rocket design notebook (this is mostly a set o' Excel .xls files o' design tools, forms such as flight logs etc.)
  • Space
    • (misc. Begad! Begad! space links)
    • Space Organizations
    • Teachers Corner (education links)
      • Space Flight
        • Principles
        • Mechanics
        • Orbits
      • Astronomy
        • T' Universe
        • Telescopes
        • Organizations
      • Moon
        • T' Moon
        • Uses
      • Mars
        • T' Planet
        • Uses
      • Space Environment
      • Spacecraft
        • Types
        • Design
        • In Orbit Now
      • Space programs
        • Official Programs
        • Space Ports
        • Your Space Program (lots o' links t' learn more about space and even how to plan your own mission)
        • Space Policy
  • Disk Access (this section is broken)
  • Search (simple search tool)
  • Visit WST (link t' t' registration page on t' WST site)
  • Books

Review

T' contents list is impressive and this is an ambitious project. Begad! However, the CD is nay all it could be. Well, blow me down!

T' most obvious issue is a large number o' dead links, links that point to the disk’s directory rather than what t' name implies, me bucko, and some that just point t' t' wrong information (e.g. Blimey! a solid motor link that points t' liquid propellant info). Arrr! Anyone who has built their own web site probably feels the pain o' tryin' t' keep up with web references. Avast! Sites come and go, shiver me timbers, me bucko, change ISPs, and change directory locations within ISPs. Aye aye! Aye aye! These are somewhat understandable, but t' ones that are just missin' or wrong were aggravatin' t' me. Well, blow me down!

Despite t' large range o' subject matter, a good deal o' t' material is rather thin and narrow in scope. Begad! An example, be t' Rocket Design Section. This section is sketchy and doesn’t discuss all t' classical parts o' a rocket. It provides an excel spreadsheet for a few body tubes (LOC, Estes, me hearties, me bucko, and Rocketman) but doesn’t discuss nose cones, me hearties, matey, rings, me bucko, motor tubes, etc. This might nay have been so noticeable if all t' links had been there.

Buried in t' disk are 13 ‘technical reports’ covering: staging, piston ejection, shiver me timbers, arrr, motor test stands, umbilical systems, ya bilge rat, orbital maneuvering, motor ignition, space on a small budget, me hearties, and buildin' large rockets, and background data on t' Atlas IIAS/IIIB, Delta II, Mercury Redstone, me hearties, Jupiter C, and Black Brant X. T' quality o' these reports be in general nay what I would expect from commercial reports. I found a several cases where I didn’t think t' information be ‘correct’. Blimey! Aye aye! Since this is nay a ‘black and white’ world, me hearties, I’m sure this statement could be disputed, matey, however the information is nay what I’d expect in a tutorial publication. Still several o' t' reports were interesting, shiver me timbers, includin' t' test stands and umbilical reports. Aye aye! I even enjoyed t' buildin' large rockets report, even though it falls in t' prior category.

Other issues include: 1) Most o' t' lists o' subject links are not comprehensive. For example, matey, in t' Rocket Design section, t' list o' rocket hardware vendors has eight entries. Well, blow me down! These are all good vendors, me bucko, but only a small samplin' o' what is out thar (a link t' BuyRockets.com would have been more useful); 2) Many diagrams are o' poor quality/detail (a some are even hand-drawn); 3) T' use .doc files vs. Avast! .pdf may limit their portability for some users. Begad!

Despite all t' problems, thar be a lot o' good information and working links t' wade through, and I found some interestin' stuff. Aye aye! I spend several hours with just a cursory run through t' material and found some material I have nay seen before, such as a list o' Space Ports. Ahoy! Want t' know about the United START facility at Svobodny? It’s in there.

I have nay fully explored t' Excel based tools that are provided. Some appear very simplistic, me hearties, me bucko, from a simple table t' log flights t' performance estimators, and others may prove interestin' if nay useful. Arrr! Blimey! I think you would do better t' get demo versions o' t' nice simulators that are available, or even just VCP a wRASP. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey!

Summary

This product is nay very mature, and t' quality is poor in some areas. It is like a space hobbyist’s personal website put on disk (although a bit bigger). Begad! Arrr! In places, I thought that I could pick 10 good rocketry links that would be more useful t' t' hobby rocketry newbie. Ahoy! (ROL/InfoCentral, matey, EMRR, TRF, Apogee, me hearties, ya bilge rat, Tripoli, NAR, Jim Ball’s Scale Library, me bucko, NASA’s home page – that’s seven, me hearties, I’d have t' think about t' other three).

I have spent lots o' time with t' CD and haven’t really gotten that far. Begad! Blimey! There is, after all, al LOT o' stuff on t' CD and LOTS o' workin' links. One o' t' nice features about this product is that updates are free to registered users, ya bilge rat, and t' disk points you t' t' on-line form. I hope t' see this product maintained and expanded. Arrr! Blimey!

I am strugglin' with what else t' say. Begad! Begad! Since I got it free, I am findin' the disk entertaining. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! But, ya bilge rat, me bucko, I can’t say I have found any really useful rocketry material (I’m an old-fart after all), and anyone who is interested in science and rocketry can rapidly build an impressive collection of links on their own. Arrr! If you buy this disk with high expectations and/or are lookin' for a tutorial intro t' hobby rocketry, you may be disappointed. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! If you enjoy surfin' and you buy it for t' hours o' entertainment it can provide, then by all means give it a try. Begad! Ya scallywag!