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.
“Gray”5 pages
12 explanation. If it is really true that this chartreuse color only turns up only at suprise, we may be with the explanation that · Herzfeldllput forward for it. Schirra - This is the nitrogen effect? O'Keefe - Yes. Schirra - I would like to stamp that one out. We ~an't afford to have · nitrogen outgas in the vehicle. (Laughter) The only nitrogen which we have stored aboard is that which pressurizes the hydrogen peroxide system. If we lose any of that, this is almost fatal. O'Keefe - Well, there is plenty of nitrogen in the atmosphere at that level~ · Still - Schirra · - You mean in the external atmosphere? O'Keefe - Yes. Ambient atmosphere. Schirra - Fair enoug~. Well then, that paper - I was left with the impression · that the nitrogen came from the vehicle itself. O'Keefe· - I am sure that it didn't cross Herzfeld's mind. Dubin - There's also nitrogen ... Schirra - Well, it read that way to me. I should say that I am very conscious of what nitrogen does for me within the vehicle! (Laughter) This is basically my control field. Dubin - I was going to say there is also nitrogen absorbed in met als .. Schirra - The gaseous content of the vehicle is very carefully measured prior to sealing up the vehicle for lift off. It is purged and we go up to about 97 or 98 percent oxygen. Obviously, there is not much left in the cabin, you can't get it all out becaus e !/ Abstract published in Voll 136, #3522, p. 1121, July 29, 1962 of Science by Charles Herzfe d.
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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 216 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.