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.
Scientific Debriefing Cooper: I could not see distinct lightning patterns. It ju,st all lit ~• . I The whole cumulus mass of clouds would light up. Soules: Did.you notice thunderstorms between Hawaii and Ce.liforniao Cooper: -Yes, several off the west coast of the United Stateso I don•t remember just how far. There were several cumul.us buildups. Soules: Did they look like the usual thunderstorms? Qooper: They went on down·to a stra'j;us deck on into coast on .down about Los Angeles. They stood further -off the coast than up north .. \ - • r/ • Soules: Did you see any long white bands of clouds along the east coast in ,,.'the tropical' areas'l ,, Cooper: Yes. One was over the Arabiap. desert that was quite distinct .. took a color photograph of that. Soules: was· it a very sharp line of clouds with bμ.ild-up in it'l Cooper: Yes. Number 10 picture is over the Arabian desert area .. Soules: Over the oceans did you notewwide bands with perhaps clear ·area ,over it'l .
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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.