Astronaut Scientific Debriefings, 1962-1963

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.

LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY
UNIVEllelTY Of' CAl.lf'OIINIA
LOe AI.AM09, NllW MIIXICO
tO: Dr. Jocelyn Gill DATE: July l.3, l.962
Aaeuming that 'Y • 7 km 1n ~ abaorbing layer, ve note that a. surface obaerver
vieving a layer at an altitude near l.00 km vill have availabl.e the ratio
(12)
An astronaut · vieving along path No. 3 woul.d have a mu.ch greater thickness, as
2,rR ; 75
y . (l.3)
Viewing thru the layer to a point ne.ar the surface and out again the enhancement
would be mu.ch less,
(14)
Light received by an observer :from a "point source" in space is attenuated by
-uN •
a factor e where CT 1s the absorption plus scattering cross section, giving
I -aN
-• e (15a)Io
and I •.
1n .!_ • -CTN (15b)Io