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Astronaut Scientific Debriefings, 1962-1963

National Aeronautics and Space Administration · 1962 · 216 pages · text from the file's own layer

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.

Open the PDF at page 84 Original source ↗

“Cooper”51 pages

  • p. 64 …J Cooper: No. If I had no prev;ous experience on the light·, I don Vt…
  • p. 65 …because you ha~ e , as background'l Cooper: I think possibly so~ Of course it's…
  • p. 66 …F,.. ~ ...,, ., , - • I • l •, • 'I- - • •~ -, • ' , was? ,. • -,-~ ;' _·•: ... .,~ '-.. .. - Cooper:. I Just don't have any idea. I kept doubting…
  • p. 67 …ghtning par'tfcularly in that area. .: • '.o:. Cooper: · Well, · this is .,one possibility· that there was…
  • p. 68 Scientific Debriefing -5- Cooper: The moon was probably 14-al. It was down to about a…
  • p. 69 I' .' Scientific Debriefing -6- Cooper: Well, not realq. As I went into both night sides I…
  • p. 70 Scientific Debriefing -1- Cooper: .Almost. Almost as it began to get dark. Of course it gets…
  • p. 72 …Probably about 30 degrees G Cooper: I had a ~-:few comments that I made · on the…
  • p. 73 Scientific Debriefing Cooper: Just once. Bill Armstrong: Did you do it twice or Just once? ·'.1…
  • p. 74 ,. • I Scientific Debriefing • -ll- Cooper: I think so. I think with that brightness~ if you know…
  • p. 75 …I • l • .' • . ~ l • • . •. • - ' ' Cooper: Yeso Bill: That 1s one of t he main things we wanted…
  • p. 76 . Scientific Debriefing -13- Cooper: Those deploy marks worked real well. They were excellent for getting in…
  • p. 77 …Did you make attempts to see it· on the day side'l Cooper: I sure did…
  • p. 78 …Did .you see the ·stars during this• ~'l , I Cooper: Not this particular ··orbit. No I…
  • p. 79 …the · center of' the window? Cooper: Noo More slight¥ to the le:f't of' the…
  • p. 80 ',' I Scientific Debriefing -17- I Cooper: Maybe as long as a minute. I doubt if it…
  • p. 81 ,. 1' ' Scientific Debriefing -J.8- Cooper: Yes, it got dimmer. Mercer: Cou1d you see _lights of…
  • p. 82 Scientific Debriefing -19- Cooper: ~finite~: The ideal would be a series of lights. A better combination…
  • p. 83 I i ' I Scientific Debriefing -20- Cooper: You 're going to have to be right on…
  • p. 85 …Is this maneuver an expensive and troublesome· thing to do'l Cooper: It takes control power…
  • p. 86 …worked •very well. ' • And the lens opening of 5.6? 'Cooper: ·It was exactly-on ·what…
  • p. 87 …aey more information? There was none in the tra.ns9ript. ~ Cooper: What base was this oni…
  • p. 88 Scientific Debri efing -25- ( Cooper continued) ·a brown look, Everything predominantly had a. bluish cast . .All…
  • p. 89 Scientific Debriefing Cooper: I could not see distinct lightning patterns. It ju,st all lit ~• . I…
  • p. 90 Scientific Debriefing -27- Cooper: No. I noticed several large cyclonics. I did not notice any very…
  • p. 91 …Was the horizon always ·a sharp line? Cooper: Yes, day and 'night the hqrizon was sharp…
  • p. 92 …Which is darker, the earth or the 11ttl.e band of sky? Cooper: When there was…
  • p. 93 …Does the earth appear as blue to your eye , , as it does in the photos? Cooper…
  • p. 94 …You could see the griton\ the window? • Cooper : You could see the light actually impinging on…
  • p. 95 …More like a patch? Cooper: Smoother. It was a good sized area. • Roach: You didn't…
  • p. 96 …We are interested in horizon effect after sunset • . \' (Cooper draws some more pict~es.) Cooper: You…
  • p. 97 …Did you 'notice this was cone shaped? Cooper: A little bit cone shaped. J Roach : Did…
  • p. 98 …I Cooper : Sunset is more of a golden orange. Dr. Voas : Did you notice any of…
  • p. 99 …Then, is there some structure above the blue layer? Cooper: I never could see pattern structure…
  • p. 100 …What are your attitude tolerances •in ASCS? Cooper: I would say within about 5 l/2…
  • p. 101 …was the camera easy to use'l Cooper: Yes, after I once got it out of…
  • p. 102 …Di"d you place it vertically? Where did you place it? Cooper: I placed it vertically…
  • p. 103 …That is all I had. ' Cooper : Did you get anything at all? Warren : Particul.a.rly…
  • p. 104 …Were you listening for it at the time'l Cooper: Yes, except I had my visor…
  • p. 105 …Over the Himalayas, shot number 12, was the green true? Cooper: Yes, fairly true. Shepard : I…
  • p. 106 …Did you see any distinct shadows from the terrai!n? Mountains? l t .Cooper: •Yes. You…
  • p. 107 …O'Keefe: .Did you see anything that looked like a crater? ! I Cooper: No. I sure…
  • p. 108 …Did they actually seem to curve in? Cooper: If I would be sitting facing this way…
  • p. 109 …the smoke? Cooper : was bl~ Hanel: Hanel: in polar Cooper: an airplane. ·clouds Hanel: pictures? Cooper…
  • p. 110 …Question: · Did you see any dust storms? Cooper: At no time· did I note a dust…
  • p. 111 …I Cooper: No. I think this was purely a feeling of the straps. You're floating…
  • p. 112 …Did you see ,Calcutta? I Cooper: No. Fisher : Did you see any airports? Cooper : Ye~, I…
  • p. 113 …Could you hear better? Cooper : No. \ Dr. voas: Did you at any time hear an unusual…
  • p. 183 …it should have been (capped) ooo Gordon Cooper knows this and will have a cap on…
  • p. 184 …Schirra - Cooper will have this very same type of li ght meter. Nordberg - You know why…
  • p. 196 …Schirra = I feel at this point, for example, in Cooper 0 s flight , what we are…
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t Sci entific Debriefing -21- /'
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, i (McKe e continued) you say why you saw such small items?
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'' Coo;pcr: I was coming :f'rom Houston the other day in a 102 and I not ed I
coulcln't see nearly as clear around ·40,000 feet, particularly in one area,..
. that I was in. There was · a lot of haze and it .was quite humid and I couldn ' t
I
disti nguish things on the ground very well but yet when I got into the west
coast of Florida and got into an area that was somewhat clearer, at t h e same
altitude I could see many things. I think again, that it depends on how much
humidity _you have and how much haze is in an area. I passed right over the
vicinity of Los Angeles and San Diego and never saw them at all. I waoo't ,
very surprised. I could see where they were but I couldn't see them. I
passed right over Miami and Miami Beach and I could see that there was a
t 'own there . . Ther~ was a lot of build up and civilization. I could see
the streets but the buildings were not very distinct. But yet over areas
of El Centro:·and the Salton Sea and ·the dry lake areas I could see tremendously
greater detail, 8J1.IJ. individual roads. Over the Himalayas, up in Tibet, of
course there you'r~ above a good portion a certain amount of the atmosphere ,
J •
i I suppose, I was really surprised: what I could see. I found some real
detai ls and little , villages with maybe 20 or 30 houses I suppose, stood outi ' • •
very distinctly. You .could estimate the number of houses and if a house was
individually away f'rom ahythirig else I guess against the right color
background, the yard, I could discern individual buildings. I saw a number
of t h em with smoke1 coming out of the chimney. There was snow on this upper
very sandy blowy, dusty; Tibetan are.a. I could see a lot of lakes some partial.ly.y
f'roz en over and some f'rozen solid. The visibility was tremendous. I could
vehicles that ,:;t assumed were trucks. I could see them kicking up ' dust.
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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.