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.
In ~ly refer to: SGC:Mt:llll.
21 Feb~ 1962
MQl)BANDt){
Subject: Poeaible 1eritit1c Viaual IIitoruat1on
Obtained 1>f J. H. Gl.enn
1. Two (2) 1ntentl'ting obaervationa re~ in the Pree ,
as ddcribed by Colonel GJ.enn ~ the NA-6 flight. It 11 ot
Vit4U. 1ntereat to obtain a more 4ataUttd deacl'iption at tbfte ob e~
t1ona in order that the &ccur&cy Md the detail• ot 'What,.. obseried
may~ Pl'Ol*.rly Neoi"decl for ,oientitic eriJ.:uat1on. The two obaer
vatioDB wre:
()The~ ot the ~t m.Jl!lbW or lUIJliriowl particles
ap~tl.y travelling Vith t 1Pt,Cecratt at 1'r1endlhip-7 euifri1t ;
and
(b) Th altitudel or angular view o~ the -upper limb
ot the tmo•ph&re.
2. The thouunda ot 1Ulll1n0ul parttcl.• • i'bit . In .a.dition, the ge<JDetey- or
the obaMrrYatiana ehow.d be turther deacribed in order to ~rive th
geanetric 41itrtbut10n at the parbicles relative to the e&pacecratt•a
v:l.iuknr. (~ preoue obeervat1onal tw and th4I poe1t1on of sun-
1.ight lum1noa1ty can NllkJ:U:y be a.t4tj,ni;ned trom the orbit of the
pacecratt itaelt). 'l'hee• particl• ~ be pocentr1c 1n origin
and may' be ••pended in the -~- '1'bera ~ .t leUt tw
hypot 1• tor a;pla1n1ng pantclAa tr&vellbJg v1th the apacecn,tt.
'l'he intensity c~ to atarl~t aboul.4 lMt 4-termlned 8.1.ao
tbia 1.nformat1on ia ot ~• 1n 4-~ turther ~ormation
about the a olute JIUlabex- and cros1•aectiona ot the 1)$'t1cl• may
rel.ate to tbe dujt content or zodiaciil 11~ u WU u the gegen
echein. 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.