As everyone who has ever failed in this level knows, if the crate you're lugging around gets blown up by stray gunfire, you fail the level due to not being able to access the research section.
Thankfully there's a nice glitch that allows you to bypass having to lug around that annoying crate altogether. The enemies in this area wield Dragons as their weapons, which is the key to the entire thing. Blast your way through the level until you're at the section of the wall that you need to blow up, then access the secondary function of the Dragon -- Proximity Mine -- and place it at the base of the wall. All you need to do from there is stand back and shoot the Dragon so blow both it and the wall up.
You've just accessed the research section without using the crate of explosives, and this glitch works even if you blow the crate up first despite the game telling you that it's a mission failure.