RE: The fuelsail is stupid (was starship-design: Hull Materials)

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

On Sunday, November 16, 1997 10:30 AM, Isaac Kuo [SMTP:kuo@bit.csc.lsu.edu] 
wrote:
>
>
> >D-D or D-T need a tank (one likely to outweigh the unfueled starship),
> >will
> >boil off into space over the years, and are very rare and expensive.
> > Lithium
> >is extreamly common and cheap (well under a dollar a pound assuming you
> >refine medical grade Lithium to Lithum-6), can be chemically bonded with
> >hydrogen to carry it, and can be used as a structural metal.

Actually, a self refrigerating design for D-T using the D-T ice as the 
_structure_ of the ship has been around for several years

>
> However the simple fact is that if you can't achieve Lithium-hydrogen
> fusion, you can't use it.  Period.  D-D or D-T fusion will be acheived
> much sooner, probably.

Yuck, but all those neutrons...

>
> >The difficulty of constructing a lithium/hydrogen fusion reactor is
> >comparativly simple compared to our other technical problems.  So its
> >unlikely to be a major cost or schedule driver.

I think I would prefer waiting for He3 or B11 fusion...

Lee