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.

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1' ' Scientific Debriefing -J.8-
Cooper: Yes, it got dimmer.
Mercer: Cou1d you see _lights of cities through J.a¥ers of cl~dst
Cooper: 'I saw a lot . of cities underneath the clouds.
yaw ~ignments was over Shangpai. •
..,
i
Mercer: Were light patterns more •distinctive than individual bright lights?
Cooper: Yes. I was ,over the ·east coast of. Australia. · . I saw t~e very:
distinct city l.ight patterns there around the Melbourne area.
. , ' .
Paul: When the light dim:Ded .out did ·you lose the-l.ight
Cooper: I l.ost both in ·much the same period of ·time. :
·Jones: Did the ground-li~ _appear sharp as a point .source or· was it
diff'u.sed? ' I
·Cooper: :Ct was more' diff'u.sed. Not a sharp point.
single light but it -was not like the stars.
Smith: You think a: flashing light would be preferable?, .
/ , '.