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.

.
Scientific Debriefing -8-
of t he window when I first picked it up. By the time it got up to where
• • : '
was may'be 15 degrees higher ( 1n relation_to me and m:, l.ine •of sight) 1
.• I
suddeacy saw it flashing.
. I \
Bill Armstrong: ~at' a ,.1ust where it would have been. If woul.d have·
-.
just coming to the horizon. '. '
John Boynton: ·Was this predominantly ~bove the horizon?
Bill Armstrong: In the first orbit, no. On the first orbit it is' very-1low~
That is why' he •might not have seen it the initial part of the orbito
I
about 20 or 30 minutes thru the1night s~de, it passes through the horizon
and then it goes about 25 or 30 degrees high. It goes· through a fai,rly
large angle change. at first, and the further out it gets of course the
smal.ler 1 the angle .change is. 'l'he second night a:f'tier depl.oyment •Just ·about ., ,_
. .
at sunset 1t start·s up through the .horizon and 'then all the time .during the '
• '
second night phase it is .above th~ horizon. · Then the third C)ne is · above the
hor.:Lzon all of the·'time.