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.
“Cooper”51 pages
be f ore sunrise, a nd rising to plus 10°c just after sunr"i se. DJ.ri ng the se cond da y , the temperatures were lower, rea ch i ng about -25°c during portions of the da y . From about 3h 3dn, CET, on the second period of sunli ght, the temperatures were h i.gher, ·,. nd, bnly one partl cle is ment i oned . I f' the effect i.s indeed due to condensation of moisture, t he n t he broad end oi' t he capsule is a more likely source than the na rrow end , be cause t he temperatures were 200c or more higher at the n;:i.rrow end. The condensation probably took place ·Lnside the capsule, r a ther tha n outside, because even at the lowest recorded sh i.ngle ·i..<::l.ilJ;)r.::-:.l·ture , a round -50°c, the vapor pressure o ver ice amounts to about 0.039 milliba rs. Although this pressure is very low, i. t greatly exceeds the ambtent pressure at the lowest capsule altitudes. Accordingly, it is not possible that snowf lakes should f orm under these circumstances, even though it is true that the capsule must be surrounded by an expanding atmosphere of water vapor. If the water-vapor expands freely, ;_ t is clear tha t the pressure at a dis t ance of 1 meter f rom a hole 1 cm in di ameter wi.11 be of the orde r o i' 1/10 ,000 of the press ure at the hole. Hence i t i. s f airly clear t hat t he pressure i nside the capsule will be far higher than the outside pressure, i n sp i. te of the presence of 18 one-centimeter apertures. Hence condensation within the capsule l s more likely than condensation outside. It is noteworthy tha t no f ormati on of rime was noti ced either on the window or on the balloon stri ng . It i s con s i dered most likely that tne particles of the Glenn effect are snowflakes f ormed -L n the capsule, between the cabin bulkhead and the heat shi eld by the steam e xhaust from the li.fe-support system. It is suggested that they es cape i nto spa ce through the porte, being driven outward. by the expanding vapor. Note t hat at 02 52 47, Carpenter noted a particle moving faster than he. At 02 50 00 , he planned to observe sunrise and was facing forward. This particle was thereby probably seen east of him. Most of the particles are seen behind hi m and f alli ng
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.