Designing A Cryogenic Material Testing Device; The Challenger Disaster: How the Network Failed 4 views

My technical project and my STS research are connected by a shared concern with how engineers understand and act on material behavior at low temperatures. In my technical project, my team propose a cryogenic mechanical property testing system for the University of Virginia Astronomy Department. It is designed to support the selection of space telescope materials. My STS research examines a different case, the Challenger disaster, but it raises a related question: what happens when low-temperature material behavior is not successfully translated into authoritative engineering knowledge? Together, the two projects show that material data matter because they must be produced, communicated, and recognized in forms that decision-makers will trust and use. My technical project focuses on designing a cryogenic material tester capable of reaching approximately 10 K without consuming liquid cryogens. Such test is necessary because it has been proved that room-temperature material properties are not accurate enough for predicting behavior under cryogenic conditions. Material property data at cryogenic conditions are useful for selecting lightweight materials for space telescopes. The design combines an enclosed cryostat, a DE-204 cold head, thermally isolated load paths, Digital Image Correlation, and an Instron testing system. The system is intended to support repeated testing and eventually provide the Astronomy Department with a reusable platform for comparing materials for next-generation cryogenic instruments. My STS research paper uses Actor-Network Theory to analyze the Challenger launch decision as a sociotechnical network rather than as a purely technical or managerial failure. I analyzed how the network remained stable enough to launch but eventually failed. My argument was that the risk of sealing O-ring fail was translated into administratively manageable categories, and that the stability failed when cold-temperature evidence could not become an authoritative no-launch constraint. In other words, Challenger shows how dangerous material behavior can remain politically and organizationally weak if it is not transformed into the right documentary and procedural form. The paper therefore examines not only low-temperature material performance, but also the social processes that determine whether such performance becomes meaningful in a decision system. Working on these projects together has made each one more valuable. The technical project gave me a concrete appreciation for how difficult it is to generate reliable cryogenic material data in the first place. The STS project, in turn, showed me that generating data is not enough; engineers must also design systems that preserve the authority of that data as it moves through institutions and decision hierarchies. As a future engineer, this synthesis has helped me see that technical infrastructure and organizational judgment are inseparable. Building a cryogenic testing apparatus is therefore not only a design problem, but also part of building a better sociotechnical system for making responsible engineering decisions.

BS (Bachelor of Science)

Cryogenic Material Testing; Space; Actor Network

School of Engineering and Applied Science Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technical Advisor: Jason Forman, Peter Dow STS Advisor: Benjamin Laugelli Technical Team Members: Leon Li, Jose Elverdin, Flimon Kesete, Alex Kerr

All rights reserved by the author (no additional license for public reuse)

2026-05-07