Abstract
Human spaceflight depends not only on engineering performance, but also on the institutional structures that shape how high-risk technologies are designed and approved. At the same time, continued progress in space exploration requires new propulsion systems that can improve efficiency and expand mission capability. Together, these challenges point to a broader program: how can engineers develop advanced propulsion technologies while also ensuring that the organizational environments surrounding those technologies support safe and responsible innovation? My thesis portfolio addresses this question through two connected projects. The technical research project focuses on the design of a detonation-based experimental test facility intended to support future propulsion research, while the STS research project examines how changes in organizational structure influence safety culture in human spaceflight. Taken together, they show that the future of spaceflight depends not only on better technical systems, but also on stronger approaches to managing risk, responsibility, and decision-making.
My technical research project aims to design a compact, cost-effective, and modular test facility for investigating detonation wave behavior similar to rotating detonation engines. The project is motivated by the potential of rotating detonation engines, which offer higher efficiency than conventional deflagration-based rocket engines. The higher efficiency of detonation-based rocket engines is a result of supersonic combustion generating greater useful work from the same fuel input. The facility my capstone team is building is intended to make this area of research more accessible by lowering barriers related to cost and physical scale, especially for university laboratories. The design includes three major subsystems: a gas and ignition subsystem, a main test structure, and a diagnostics subsystem. Together, these subsystems enable controlled mixing and ignition of ethylene, oxygen, and nitrogen, propagation of a detonation wave through a curved test section, and measurement of detonation properties such as velocity and cell size. The project also includes thermal calculations and transient structural simulations showing that the proposed facility is designed to withstand the expected detonation conditions while maintaining acceptable deformation and safety margins. In this way, my technical research project addresses a practical need by creating infrastructure that can support further study of advanced propulsion systems and contribute to the broader development of high-efficiency space technologies.
My STS research paper examines a different but closely related dimension of aerospace innovation: the organizational conditions that shape safety in human spaceflight. Using the 2024 Boeing Starliner incident as a case study, the paper investigates how the transition from a government-led model of spaceflight to a commercialized public-private model has reshaped organizational incentives and safety culture. The paper explores the Starliner incident as not merely a technical failure. Rather, it reflects broader structural tensions created by a system in which responsibility is distributed across NASA and private contractors operating under contractual and financial pressures. Drawing on evidence from NASA investigation reports, oversight documents, and historical comparisons to earlier aerospace failures, the paper shows that technical anomalies emerged within a sociotechnical environment shaped by coordination challenges, competitive pressures, and evolving accountability structures. Concepts such as co-production and normalization of deviance help explain how institutional arrangements influence the way risk is interpreted and managed. The broader implication is that safety in human spaceflight is not simply a matter of engineering reliability. It is also a function of organizational design, communication, and incentive alignment across complex partnerships.
The culmination of these two projects shows that progress in the aerospace industry requires both technical capability and institutional responsibility. The technical research project addresses the challenge of building research tools that can support the development of next-generation propulsion systems, while the STS paper addresses the challenge of ensuring that the systems surrounding those technologies promote sound safety culture and effective oversight. In different ways, both projects ask what it takes to make aerospace innovation sustainable over time. One answer is that innovation must be supported by carefully designed physical systems. Another is that it must be governed by organizations capable of managing uncertainty, distributing responsibility, and resisting pressures that can compromise safety. By linking propulsion research with the study of organizational safety, this portfolio argues that the future of human spaceflight will depend on successfully integrating engineering ambition with responsible institutional design.
Notes
School of Engineering and Applied Science
Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering
Technical Advisor, Chloe Dedic
STS Advisor: Kent Wayland
Technical Team Members: Connor Green, Alvin Kim, Irion Thompson, Josiah Martin, Brandon Dawson, Albert Castellon-Prado, Frederic Ramirez-Melenciano, Derek Liu, Tyler Verry, Spence Hartman, Jonathan Wang, Saif Rahman, Tyler Fisher, Ryan Malatesta
