Documents / Official release
This NASA file of astronaut scientific debriefing papers from 1962 collects internal Office of Space Sciences material on the science observations made on early Mercury flights. A February 1962 memo from Maurice Dubin asks for more detail on John Glenn's report of luminous particles and the atmospheric horizon layer. A draft memo concludes that the particles were tied to the spacecraft and were not extraterrestrial. The file also holds a Los Alamos letter that attributes the high haze layer to nitrogen peroxide, and notes on Carpenter's airglow observations.
From the source:Release of 2026-06-12 This file contains memoranda, correspondence, reports, and other materials relating to contemporary scientific interest in investigating the nature of luminous phenomena reported by astronauts John Glenn and Walter Schirra during spaceflight. This collection includes transcripts from NASA interviews and debriefings with both astronauts regarding those observations. It also contains details relating to scientific observations of atmospheric phenomena, including brief descriptions of luminous particles, experiences while aboard spacecraft, and circa 1955 theoretical analysis of meteoric particles entering the atmosphere. Pages 34-35, 55-56, 57-63, 64-113, and 122-127 feature content relevant to the PURSUE initiative.
“Nevers”23 pages
• I ·i scient i fic Debriefing -50- ·~i_i ,Boynton : Did you find that later in the flight audio inputs became more startling '•/ ior more distinct'Z Did they seem to be more profound'Z ..,~ :. ,; :Cooper : Later in flight, I began to' notice the relay panel wiping .back and forth ../whereas I hadn't noticed it before. The music sounded pretty good. If I'd had \a radio on board, I could have used it. John Boynton: Did you find you might look forward to hearing collllllunications, say more s o than in the· first of the fligbt'Z Cooper : No. Not that I noted. John B.: Could you hear better? Cooper : No. \ Dr. voas: Did you at any time hear an unusual noise? I Cooper: No. Roach: Was there any change of radio static in electrical storms'Z In connection with t he · problem of radio ' static, there is a phenomenon of static going to and fro between the hemis:pheres, wen it returns it comes back as a ,wistle • D~d you ever hear a wistle'Z Cooper : No, I didn't. Note: Some questio~s were then raised concerning the appearance of the horizon• I at sunrise and sunset. Cooper stated that the horizon near the sun was a golden . color at sunset, spreading away from the sun. He stated: "The real dom_inant thing , is that it is gold as it •is setting and it is real blue as it s~arts to come up. 11 1 He stated again tha~ he saw the Zodiacal light both night and morning. It was· a . very low order magn,itude light, about the s~e at sunrise and at sunset. He ' estimated its elongation to be ~bout 15 degrees. ...., I -------. ___ __,__ .. _ ' •
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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. 216 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.