RE: starship-design: Hull Materials

["L. Parker" <lparker@cacaphony.net>]

Timothy,

Why was the sail made of lithium? There are plenty of choices that have 
much better tensile strength, high reflectivity, and high emissivity. 
Calcium metal for instance, it is as easy to work as copper, almost as 
light as lithium and much stronger than lithium. It is also a better 
electrical conductor than copper which may turn out to be useful.

There are lots of alloys that will also provide superior characteristics 
than lithium.

Lee