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.
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significant observations of the sta/ ield or the moon. In
the absenf e of atmospheric scattEring the sun appeared a
brillant white, but showed no signs of corona . It is of
interest, however_, to consider Col . Glenn's observation
-.'t o{ '- band six to eight degrees
9'f t~e twill a- eix-~e -eiga~-aegPee-e&Ba
above the horizon, with a haze layer about two degrees
Although it has been speculated that
wide at the top. ~5'~~1!:irl~-.eilli-il~e
observation = ~\:-
the multipa~wl:l:,ers of the1'window cause the high
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angle~ the horizon ~ ~ ti&..,.a;l.la-~l'O"l~tm~te2:~~~, this
~ o~~~
~ likely because of the variatio~ a.ad angle of
\Jw&. ~--.>-"I ~Ill'\. ~ ~~w.-\ 0 :\.,:u.~ •
view a;i,10w :ee Sel '-l.lina.._o& P0'5ft'D1 Bi& the space craft,- ~.\ t.e'-M'" "~ ••:~
~ that he did not see any double imag~ing
~ ~
~ :La any of his ~ observations 1'1:rurther-
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more, he was able to infii.is8a:ec that the stars e»serveI' :fJ
o\~t.. ...~,..... ~'-u"~ .t.,.a4!d.,. ~ -sm rJ.-.uL,,:.,,. • .,.\. •
~ ~l ~-.llt.,dicated a high angle haze layer . ,. n i'1 e,v:ia.ewe ~het .sf
7 ~~~
-4-.,. &.·\u.~ ~~\AM ~U\~c.~Ch4.,, ...p. 4~"-"-'1--f.a~-,,.
Au-6her investigations of the air glow and haze layerKiG£
should be carried out .
~~
Meteorology: The strikinJ~ of lightning dis-
charges as observed by Glenn point the way to consideration
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of an j ■ I · on system for monitoring lightning storms over
the earth using the meteorological satellite . The mapping
~......~.l. ~
of the distribution of thunderheads i(Ji)oG. lightning during
the night appears to be relatively straightforward while)
the similar :mapping during daylight appears feasible because~
of the short time constanu of the lightning flashes .
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Recommendati ons : 'l!bere &ve ,..,.~-ot!- number of Not linked to a story yet.
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.