Abstract
One pound of water costs $9,100, or at least it does when you are 250 miles above the ocean on the International Space Station. That is, if you are lucky and working with some of the most cutting-edge space exploration technology currently operated by SpaceX. In other cases, it could cost up to $43,180. The reason is simple: for every pound added to a rocket, the thrusters must be larger, more fuel must be added, and the cargo bay expanded. This capstone research addresses that problem not by creating more powerful engines or more efficient fuel, but by making the entire craft lighter. Since the Apollo program 60 years ago, engineers and physicists have relied on material property data tables similar to those we use today. However, material properties change with the environment, and conditions at 25 degrees Celsius and 101,325 pascals differ greatly from -270 degrees and 0 pascals. In the past, engineers extrapolated trends because technological limitations prevented full testing under those conditions. To address this gap, my technical project will develop a material tester that simulates outer space by creating a vacuum and cooling samples to cryogenic temperatures before tensioning them to failure without ever leaving those conditions.
The human and social dimensions require stepping back to examine the research itself. In 2025, the US federal government released revised budgets cutting basic research by 33%, with some agencies, such as NASA, cut by 56%. Research similar to my capstone project is now limited not by technology, but by shifting social perceptions that may threaten future knowledge development. These cuts represent a shift toward a limiting of the scope of the kinds of research supported, favoring more applied research. This paper will examine the validity of that shift and its potential impact. To do so, I will use two frameworks: latent and manifest functions and dysfunctions, and the social construction of technology. The first helps assess both the intended and unintended impacts of research, while the second examines how social structures influence research and the creation of technology, and how this research affects not only society but also researchers and the research community. The central method for exploring this topic will be comparative case analysis. First, I define a type of research called open-ended research, the central criterion of which is that it seeks to expand knowledge without attempting to develop a solution to an immediate issue, which is also threatened by this shift in perceptions. This research is also contrasted with solution-focused research, where both the problem and solution are established in advance and the research is structured to achieve that outcome. Then, I will break down my research, and selection of cases, into three questions that address the place of open-ended research in research environments and the creation of knowledge. These questions are: What happens to investigations if solution-focused research exists devoid of open-ended research? What happens to investigations if open-ended research exists to support solution-focused research? What happens to the research community and researchers if external motivations attempt to promote one kind of research over another? My paper shows that open-ended research, despite lacking immediate practical outcomes, is essential to scientific progress because it enhances adaptability to unforeseen crises, while an overemphasis on solution-focused research constrains innovation, reduces research quality, and ultimately weakens both the scientific community and society. Since the device that is being developed through my capstone research would fall under the category of open-ended research, my STS research supports its importance. Furthermore, it supports the continuation of space exploration research that our device enables, since it functions as a tool for further discovery rather than an end in itself. Lastly, it serves as an important tool for policymakers, funding agencies, and research institutions, such as the one that funded our research, to reassess the current trend, which pushes research away from open-ended approaches toward a system solely focused on solution-focused research.
