Peter Theodore Boris · Stanford University '28 · Aero-Astro and CS
I am building a subscale, pressure-fed liquid rocket propulsion system to study cryogenic leak tolerance in integrated hardware. Small cryogenic propellant leaks remain a persistent challenge once systems are exposed to thermal cycling, vibration, and reuse. Rather than assuming perfect leak prevention, modern systems rely on purge, venting, and monitoring to remain operable. Two questions drive the work. First, how do cryogenic joints behave under repeated thermal cycling and mechanical strain typical of handling and reuse, and what leak regimes appear? Second, are there indirect signals—such as pressure micro-fluctuations, acoustic emissions, or localized thermal gradients—that indicate leak onset before it produces a measurable pressure drop? Build and initial testing will take place after-hours during a full-time summer internship at Impulse Space, where access to fabrication resources enables rapid iteration. The deliverable is a working propulsion module that can be exercised, modified, and learned from. Demonstrating early leak detection before measurable pressure loss would validate the core hypothesis and help prevent small leaks from escalating into catastrophic failures during launch operations.
This paper argues that preserving reliable access to space requires treating the orbital environment as critical infrastructure and developing new governance and operational mechanisms to protect it. In particular, the United States should lead efforts to establish debris remediation and orbital traffic management capabilities through coordinated partnerships between government institutions, including the United States Space Force and the rapidly expanding commercial space sector. By aligning national security priorities with commercial incentives, such a framework could begin stabilizing the orbital environment before a catastrophic debris event forces a far more costly and reactive response. Failure to act will not prevent a debris cascade. It will only ensure that when such an event occurs, it does so in an orbital environment that has already become critical to both national security operations and the global economy.
Reinforcement-learning locomotion policies for operation in Martian cave systems, supervised by Prof. Marco Pavone at Stanford's Autonomous Systems Lab.
Built and commissioned two vacuum chambers for propulsion testing, integrating pumps, telemetry, and instrumentation. Developed automated thruster sequencing and vacuum controls software adopted company-wide, improving propulsion testing efficiency and throughput.
Joined Dr. Fabian Zander’s and Dr. David Buttsworth’s University of South Queensland (UniSQ ) hypersonics team HORIS to capture data for NASA aerothermodynamics research on Osiris-REx capsule reentry from asteroid Bennu into the Utah Test and Training Range. Designed, sourced components, and built a spectrograph at MIT to measure the 777 Oxygen line.
Created, designed, developed, and tested Eclipse Imager, an app that optimizes and executes autonomous camera script commands to perform fractional second photography. Allows users to switch between drive mode, multiple f-stops, ISO, and exposures during totality at high speeds to ensure continuous imaging. Beta tested in Antarctica, Western Australia, and New Hampshire.
Planned and organized NASA’s expedition to Antarctica’s interior during the pandemic, transporting one ton of equipment to livestream the most inaccessible eclipse to 40 millions viewers worldwide. Built, designed, and modified spectrographs, telescope rigs, mounts, and supporting software to capture data from the solar corona during the total eclipse. Imaging results featured on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) website, NASA media outlets and affiliates, and Predictive Sciences, Inc.’s composite of the total eclipse. Operated multiple telescopes for MIT experiments to measure oscillations of spectral lines.