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.
“Tibet”2 pages
I' .' Scientific Debriefing -6- Cooper: Well, not realq. As I went into both night sides I cc;>u.ld pretty well estimate 18o0 yaw. The first' night side I was not complete:cy around,, ,·~ I started :,awing around &114 ni,gbt wu audde~ upon me and I wasn°t quite in ' ' • / I 0 0 ' the :t'ull 180 positi~, so I did have to hunt ,for 'the 180 posi~ion a little' • ' bit• . On the second n:i..ght -side af'ter -I ejected the -light, I was alre&q¥ in _' I • I '· m:, 180~ position before ·going -into the night side. ..... ~+~• Merce;: H6w ·liigb above or ·below horizon line or -~dow did you look ·for light! ./; :; , • • • I I , . I , . ' ,• In other words how .far down "or :how; high did you go with your ·pitch .attitude? / ¾:,' . • • ')} I ::.;,.. Cooper: On the first night s.ide I .allowed it to drift very, very slow:cy and •·~ • _• .. , : , .,. . ... ' "'J. :, , \t. , .. , .. t ' changed them as I needed to, 'very very· slight:cy to keep m:, yaw on 180° and· // '., Y·...\ t, it varied back and forth very ·sl.igbt:cy. But X went '&1.1 tlle ~ down to ~;~ ·, ~. •' ;~ ,,,. ) ' I t\ '• ' , where the horizon ·1would fill the ·whole window and up to where. I Just ba.re:cy , ..,- ¼·.J., ·; \ • •, · • .. • . . • ., • ~... , __ i .1,.·.t- \,. r • r ~ • \,. • • • ' • • ;"' ,' "..' •' :'i # ~ h¢ the horizon in sight. / "7 ' . ,· . . ' Bill ,.Armstrong: · Did you see it cane right a'WIQ" ·when · you·:iooked .on I nigb.t'l 'I / ,,. ; ' / In oth · ·- :rd8 °you :picked it up. • • J
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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.