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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Scientific Debriefing -20-
Cooper: You 're going to have to be right on in .attitudes. You 're g~ing
to have to know exact~ what time it's going to occur. I'd guess you have
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about 20 to 30 seconds to do your ·actual sighting and you have to have a_good
angle ' off to do it.
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Bill: How about the brightness Gordo? How do you .feel about this part and
leaving .the flas~ part ' out of it? · Was it bright enough light to be seen
eaai:cy?
Cooper: Tl;l.ere were a iot brighter ·lights on the groundo
Bill: I'm sure of that but do you think this is sufficient?
Cooper: You can see it. If you look for it and know it is there and if
you're J.ucky. Knowing where to look for it and no cl.ouds there, Y9U can ,
.spot it. (And awe::, :f'rom other ·background lights.) · I still think a pattern.
woul.d be better than going ·to a brighter •light. I !l,on •t think the cha.nge •
in the brightness of the light would be as effective as making .some kind .
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of a patterno ~ l
Did the ground lights twinkle?
Cooper: Yes; Just like the stars do looking at them :f'rom the ~01:1-lld,
as the' stars don't1t~e there.
McKee: I would like to ask. You seemed to have seen our ·-lights as we1
expE:cted • . You .saw some objects on -the ground better than we expectedo