Astronaut Scientific Debriefings 1962 1963

....... a ittle ra r ··- to at • Vu W.. t.Mrtid. or =--~--===L-...:::: actnaU 7 .Dll":l.,IID1~ • Oil bo ➔ ----. I' itlllN tMt 11U a • ~to ..tataala . • ~ •tat-it at ~etanI rtson, tbe &'tall. boti. C 11.gbt. tll&t ,tbeil l ltlQ'ecl 1n ,, C 1 COIie t I j( tbe ~ ont.bento • Dee' • • • ) t hit • 4 •••••• ••••••••••••• 5 0 :t 9 • _______......,___. • • • /8 0 • ' a re. t . . " . ' . ~-- -........... t __. ......................,.. ) ROUGH DRAFI': l/13/62 CODE SCG: MD:dd MEMORANDUM to Director, Office of Space Sciences Subject: Considerations and (tecommendations of'Mtwmed 0 '},pace~lorationYollowing the~tJ rview ( February 27) ~ with Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, q7coi{"i(i_erm presented a ~ detailed and factual description of his observations during the MA' 6 flight. He answered rather well the many and varied questions presented to him during the limited interview. ftespi te the fact that he was ~ 1 it~ e ve1 , 'n ~ \ ~·t"· l.., properly Q~"- o. a number of his observations remain of ~.~ JV? ~ interest aad ~ further explorationJ"1further~re, it is evident that the astronaut can perform various scien~ tific experiments , ~has the aeiil~y capability of doing com act so despite the many limitations imposed.by the. Mercury capsule. Some commezits* on f£ 01. Glenn's below \)~•u •~LL •-, -. . IA.~ r· kun.inous ~ rticles : observations are presented t N.,c~~- clc--+'""""'""! "\ In response t o ~ a series of questions, Col. Glenn described the velocity field of ii.- QM~ the luminous particles, their brightness 8'1./i. outside the in shadow of the spacecvaft, the coloring aBa sunlight and field, the particles !all. in moved at preeise)y the same speed and !!.ll,.moved a~ precisely their shape. For the velocity the same direction except for particles coming very close _,_ .... ~"'~•"<- f .-L to the spacecraft. orbits. This occurred similarl:i, :i,Q, all three , . ..~d'f¥t.....~ From t.l¼e ~ -eie Vconsiderations alone, it may be stated that the luminous Jparticles observed by Col. Glenn were not extra~errestial particles but were particles asso­ ciated with the spacecraft or ~fte la~@Mftg e~ the booster. -2The consistency in the observations on the three separate orbits would require that the particles were associated with the spacecraft itself ( I have heard that O'Keefe ~.... ~ ~~ ~ ~ \wM. ~ \: .... 6\ANI&~~ -..,..laA, ,,_ - , has i;c;r,r9~9d the life support system which ~ ~ ~ ~ \'""~\~) wat9z: i;a:t;e apaee) Col. Glenn iJjf described the ~ .,., particlei and the luminosity. The fact that the coloring a,~aPen~ ~~~,~ was a yellow-green and the eiiee~ive observational pi,e- became fluorescent in sunlight. ~e particles observed in shadow were observed in the scattered light from the spacecraft and were probably illuminated only by visible ~~~f the spectrum. - ;l- The change of angles of the ~particles approaching e.""'1ft,- close th the~ spacecraft~ be attributed to the since repJesive charge HD the polarities of the particles and spacecraft were the same. The ability of Col. Glenn to observe the particles under improper dark adaptation ~ indicate'that an astronaut would be in a position to carry through a series of experi'1nents to investigate C.o~.L" the physics of Q.QmROMS in the solar environment. P.1wpe1 ry ~ d ° \ h e various gases and dust particles ejected ~ while from the spacecraft during~ ! c ~ . ~ n d ~tH'l,BS,! .o-\,,..U\..c.l, ~ ~~~ ~ > the spacheaft is in sunlight could be ~ by the a.\~ ........ c\M,\t.~~' astronaut- scientist ~ 1&.,"U!S...lt'emld!.r.sr--~~~09...~~~ed ~ Observati~ns of.~low ana:-/iaze: Limited by poor dark adaptation, Col. Glenn was not able to descibe any -3significant observations of the sta/ ield or the moon. In the absenf e of atmospheric scattEring the sun appeared a brillant white, but showed no signs of corona . It is of interest, however_, to consider Col . Glenn's observation -.'t o{ '- band six to eight degrees 9'f t~e twill a- eix-~e -eiga~-aegPee-e&Ba above the horizon, with a haze layer about two degrees Although it has been speculated that wide at the top. ~5'~~1!:irl~-.eilli-il~e observation = ~\:the multipa~wl:l:,ers of the 1'window cause the high 0~ angle~ the horizon ~ ~ ti&..,.a;l.la-~l'O"l~tm~te2:~~~, this ~ ~ o~~~ likely because of the variatio~ a.ad angle of \Jw&. ~ - - . > - " I ~Ill'\. ~ ~~w.-\ 0 :\.,:u .~ • view a;i,10w :ee Sel '-l.lina.._o& P0'5ft'D1 Bi& the space craft,- ~.\ t.e'-M'" "~••:~ ~ that he did not see any double imag~ing ~ ~ :La any of his ~ observations 1'1:rurther_.,'4'4. more, he was able to infii.is8a:ec that the stars e»serve</t,hrough ~ the haze layer became less intense while changi ng angle _,,,..,._ ~ the horizon . ~ USSR repo:i;l,s .,"C by Tito'V! also ind ., .__ _,,<>I' :fJ o\~t.. ... ~,..... ~'-u"~ .t.,.a4!d.,. ~ -sm rJ.-.uL,,:.,,. •.,.\. • 7 ~ ~ l ~-.llt.,dicated a high angle haze layer . ,. n i'1 e,v:ia.ewe ~het . s f ~ ~ ~ -4-.,. &.·\u.~ ~~\AM ~U\~c.~Ch4.,, ...p. 4~"-"-'1--f.a~-,,. Au-6her investigations of the air glow and haze layerKiG£ should be carried out . Meteorology: ~~ The strikinJ ~ of lightning dis- charges as observed by Glenn point the way to consideration of an l~.,\ j ■ I · on system for monitoring lightning storms over the earth using the meteorological satellite . The mapping ~ ......~.l. ~ of the distribution of thunderheads i(Ji)oG. lightning during the night appears to be relatively straightforward) while the similar :mapping during daylight appears feasible because~ of the short time constanu of the lightning flashes . -..3- .A Recommendati ons : 'l!bere &ve ,..,.~ - o t ! - number of -4= ~~ kehwc..4Ack~ recommendations ~paeP te ~a eper en+, following the very successful flight of the Mercury capsule. fi. The astqrnaut-scientist r.a,;rryi ng g,.i,;t "iB:e ob- ~.."'-<;\-,. C , ~ V \ · ~ bt s-e,~:rt..lreD.~~:im...,a....~ac.~~~le should publish~der his • :\.a.. " ~1~~-'"" A...~ name {with an associat~)ai111s0Heral M~ie--lc in a widely ?'"', •!) • bre ♦ eMSars• Utt- ► , these first­ distributed scientific journal •. In this manner, '4;a.e obd hand servations would have wide distribution, be properly ~ ...C2.A.-._ cridited to the observer, and pePtioala¥ly be edited for correctness . . . Additional support to the astronaut in carrying out scientific observations is warranted particularly in consideration of Col. Glenn's attiftude and interest in carrying out such observations. Several instruments may be added to the spacecraft, within engineering limitations~ eJ., to assist in obtaining further detail~data. Q., Col. Glenn suggested that t.ae follo would be to his interest. -~""'- discussioms Such follow-on discussion is strongely recommended for further questions and exchanges) ~ inform the astronaut aihalysis to ova~~ate-~eP-tao-astPeRa~t of the results of t h e ~ and study of his observations. C . It is of se.e:~ a:t-importanli" that proper dark adaptation methods be incorporated into the spacecraft system so that the astronaut may optimize his visual observations. c o"'tl'le\.s Investigations of the physics of OQB!!fteft~s and the feasibility of the ~ l " th-tificial ~omet "experiment may be carried out directly by the astronaut in a relatively strai-ghtforward way. ~ These experiments should be '"t.- ~---\; .,;.. -o.\.u.~~ ~ ~'(W\-~• carried out ae eB Bi@eM ~~ the feasibility of this ~ . -51 ~~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~&Ao..~ ~~ -,14-. ~ 0 - tlM Q.. .. ForVai:r ~low aea. optieal etttd:ies, .the photo.,,.... A..~ ,:...... >MC,--. p .,..c,,h ...~ o... multi lier :Be! "b systeml ~ series of filters r:4,-~J►"'-> --~c.~... ~-- . t . . ~ - - ~ ~ u.v. ~\_,..,, - ... ~ (including~a J;,Oii~e flaorceeent ~lain fi]:l;er to stuely ½ ~t-..Av,.u.,,,-.o:..c.. ) tac ultra viole:!T) should be incorporated into the spacecraft. ~iUJ£e -a :au.ml:lal' ef eeicntifie exper i:tJ.c:nto appear reasanabl.e--f'o-l:leri~ncces£ of :ehe Me1cwy or'eito~, : ] I' ~J1~h~~ consideration of the preseno/~lanned manned-space-flight-program, some reeommendatiGns are ~,c:r-\N·~ '"'Q ,_.f"•'ltC..~ ,..,Q.U.. .oc.~41•,u&.. apparent ts" take advantage of ,tae im~eYement& ;L;e tac ~•~~. .,..__ ~, .....,,_.\..,. lo.\u. ~gj ent 1 f1 c expJ oration af tbe saJ ar £ystem and in ~'-h;;:t_~ ~ In. ~ ¼..~; ~\ S(, a'.., ,' astJ?efl:Ofl\Y • At headquarters, ;U; i.r. recomme:ee,e,4 that • _ ~ ~~\ £)• A . \t,rogram (ahief and supporting staff i;e ~ae ~ r e p o r t i n g to the G.irector of ~pace ~ciences for scientific exploration ei in the !Manned ~pace°Tliiht ~ rogram as:111., a committee or sub-conmdttee QQ forwed oa.e.~ indluding such people as RGefte, ~Utt , Minnaert, Towsey, ~o ~ ~'YI. ~ - ~ t tn. Sekera, asg £0 forta- to • ')/ • ~ the scientific community aB.e. i;a.e ~ Y and, c ..,..... rl. .:that a branch or dividion at one of the centers -::,-, "',_""~o..,. <Y,l ~ '-' -r7 1 #tDf\~ 8 \. ,Q.suc el .&»4(.WEOK4A~ as a scientific team fo¥ aireefllsupport of the .>,>-UV\.... ~ --t-A:,-~i.; _,£.,,.r~-..,...,s. astronaut-scientists "ao oei-e into sys-sola1Y spa~e. V\A.. Y),,J.~ \~ u L t),, "" 7 '2.-; .,.,_,_ B 2 3 196 ? U.\h <!.°""""U)4.. '2'"3ol!I- '3oco 0 caJ v-nf c~-4 ~ 0 -~ Vje0/2 w~Jo...:, .....-- --:-1--- ,___ • - - UN IVERS IT Y OF CA LI FOR N I A LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABOltATOllY (CoNnACT W-740S•BNG-36) P.O. Box 1663 LOS ALAMOS, NEW MEXICO IN JU!PLY a1P1a TO: J -l6•8J.2 ,, I .. JUL I 7 1962 Dr. Jocelyn Gill Room 62033 Federal Office Bldg. No. 6 Headquarters, N.A.S.A. Washington 25, D. C• . I I .-.·.. riot, ¥..; , ,. l ,, # u,\ 1AA l1 0,i Dear Dr. Gill: -The June 29 issue of Science brought to my attention J. H. Glenn's comments on "The High layer~'. It seemed possible that the layer he described could be . accounted for as a region of relatively large nitrogen peroxide (N0 2) concentration, and the past two weeks have been spent in checking this hypothesis • Unfortunately I am not familiar with either photochemistry or upper atmosphere physics so the following analysis leaves much to be desired; the hypothesis seems tenable, however, f . so I would like to bring it to your attention. Effective path length and comparison with possible surface observations. Referring to Figure 1, the height (H) of a point at a distance (L) from a point on the surface of a sphere of radius (R) can be found from the formula (1) which has the solution (2) Figure 1 I Vertical path (No. 1) No. 3 No. 2 Figure 2 LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY UNIVl:R■ ITY LO■ ro: DATE: Of' CAI.IP'ORNIA AI.AM0e, Nl:W MUICO Ju}¥ 13, 1962 Fox- th, followins I will assume that the concentr.a tion ot absorbins mo1ecu1es in the region of interest can be described adequate}¥ by an exponential decrease w1 th altitude above the bottom, of the layer, hence, can be represented by where Y is the scale height in the layer and H must lie in the .ia.yer • . Then the .number of molecules per cm2 is found to be (4a) (4b) • RPo J e ~ [-1 + V1 + y2 + ·2y sin e ] dy (4c) ' I (5) where the integral is over the range of y desired (usua.l.ly O ➔ ex,). ·For a vertical view (sin 8 • .l) path, the sollltion is simpJ.¥ (6) where Po is the density at the base of the layer. L LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY UNIVll:llalTY 0,, CAL.1,,0IINIA LOe ALAM0e, NIEW MUICO • 1'0z nr. Jocelyn Gill DATBz July 13, 1962 For a horizontal path (sin 8 • 0) te.nsent to the baae of a layer (path No. 3) we ·note that y << l in the contributing region, hence, can get an approximate form ~ N • RPo l ~r. ex, •e Y2 (7) ccy O which has the value ~ ­ N•\J 2 (8) Po Here Po is the density at the base of the layer, as in eqµation (6). 'I An astronaut's view thru a layer :from above would see twice the path computed by equation (7), ·giving N3 • Po ✓ 2nRY molecu.les/-cm2 (9) f • Aline of sight tangent to the earth and passing thru a layer at base altitude H (path No . 2) will have . .1!J., N- ~y [pl e y J (10) ..fu. and we note that [P1. e ~] is the density at H1 , the base of the layer, which we set eqµal to Po as in equations (6) and (9), RY • ~ N,a • Po -L • Po - 2H1. r- (11) I LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY UNIVEllelTY Of' CAl.lf'OIINIA LOe AI.AM09, NllW MIIXICO tO: Dr. Jocelyn Gill DATE: July l.3, l.962 Aaeuming that 'Y • 7 km 1n ~ abaorbing layer, ve note that a. surface obaerver vieving a layer at an altitude near l.00 km vill have availabl.e the ratio (12) An astronaut · vieving along path No. 3 woul.d have a mu.ch greater thickness, as 2,rR ; y 75 . (l.3) Viewing thru the layer to a point ne.ar the surface and out again the enhancement would be mu.ch less, (14) Light received by an observer :from a "point source" in space is attenuated by -uN • a factor e where CT 1s the absorption plus scattering cross section, giving I -• e -aN Io (15a) and I •. 1n .!_ • -CTN Io (15b) LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY UNIVl:RatTY 01" CALll"ORNIA L.09 ALAM09, NIIW MUICO TO: Dr. Jocelyn Gill -5- DATI: July 13, 1962 From the repcrt 1n Science, I infer that for the layer reported, (16) or (17) giving aNi • o.o4 ± 0.027 (18) 0.22 ± 0.15 (19) and 0N2 • Any such absorbing layer present during the day would result in rapid heating, and •I reradiation in the infra-red range from whatever bands may be present. However, the absorbers postulated below would be destroyed by photodissociation and/or heating during the day. Hence, it is not surprising that solar spectra have not shown such an absorbing layer. StellarJplanetary or lunar spectra might show the existence of such a layer, if the absorption spectrum has sufficient structure. Setting (20a) we find the effective path length Xi. (20b) ~ • 3.9 x 106 cm (starting absorption at .100 km altitude) ' (20c) LOB ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY UNIVltRelTV 01" CAL.ll"ORNIA LOe AL.AM09, NltW MUICO DATB a Dr. Jocelyn Gill July 13, 1962 (20d) X4 • 7 .8·x 106 cm (20e) Absorbers Present in the Upper Atmosphere 'lliree constituents of the atmosphere near 100 km altitude absorb light through most or •all of ,the visible range, as would be re_q uired to get a noticeable d1mm1ng of starlight. They are: l) N~ (nitrogen peroxide) v 2) 0 - (negative atomic oxygen ion) 3) (negative molecular oxygen ion) 02 Of these, I found no cross section data for o;.· For 0-, Massey (Negative Ions; Cambridge U. Press) gives curves showing absorption cross sections starting at • • 5620 A and approaching~ 4 x 10 -l.8 • . • cm2 /ion 1n the region A< 5000 A. 'lb.ere is • very little structure (only the onset at 5620 A). From ecpation (17) we find that ~ 3 ± 2 _18 • (7.5 ± 5) X 10l.7 N3(0-) • 4 X 10 could explain the observed attenuation. For an effective path length of 5.4 x 107 cm, we have Po• (1.4 ± 1) x 1010 negative ions/crn.3 • Since the daytime free electron concentration in the E layer is 1.5 x 105 and the night vallle is~ 104 it seems- hard to believe such a high nighttime concentration • of negative atomic ions. LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY UNIVll:R■ ITY 01" CALll"ORNIA L.09 ALAMC>e, NllW Mll:XICO tO: July 13, 1962 Dr. Jocelyn Gill NitroGen peroxide haa been extensive~ studied and two papers were fou.nd ' ' which gave absorption coefficients in the visible region of the spectrum. Wiley and Foord (Proceedings of the Royal Society Al35, 174 (1932) give a coefficient which I convert to er ~l - 3 x 10-l.9 cm2/molecule depending on the wavelengths selected by their filters (the lower value was for the range 4900 < ). < 525·0 A) • Hall and Blacet (J. Chem. Phys. 20, 1745 (1952) give a curve obtained with . ' a Cary spectrophotometer having ~ 5 A resolution. the range 3500 < ). < 4500 A and drops to give no data for longer wavelengths. Maxinrum absorption occurs in ~1/2 the peak value at 5000 A. They I convert their absorption coefficients to ~ 6 x 10-ia cm2 /molecu.le at 4000 A, and~ 3 x 10-ia cm2 /molecule at 5000 A. Structure produces changes in cross section of~ 2 x 10-ia cm2 /molecule at wave­ lengths separated by a· few angstroms. Ta.king an 'a verage value of 4 x 10-ia cm /molecule ·we find 2 1 • and using X3 • 5. 4 x 107 cm Po• (1.4 ± 1) x 1011 molecules/cm3 . •. LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY UNIVIEll81TY OP' CALIP'OIINIA LOIi ALAM09, NIEW MUICO TO: Dr. Jocelyn Gill DATE: July 13, 1962 Readily detectable structure would produce ve.r1e.t1ons of o-N1 and aNa ot about half the attenuation figure given in equations (18) and (19) which is near the threshold of detectability. I have not yet found an author who estimates the concentration of Ne or N02 'in the atmosphere; Bates and Nicolet discuss the reactions which lead to it in the book "'lhe Earth as a Planet", edited by G. P. Kuiper (Volume II of The Solar System). Nicolet calculates the photodissociation time as 200 seconds during daytime, and shows the concentration must be so low that no effect on solar observations would be found. As a general conclusion, it seems to me more likely that N02 would be responsible for an absorbing layer, generated perhaps with the aid of downward diffusion of NO to higher pressure regions favoring oxidation to N~. 'lhe color suggested by Glenn fits very well', as may be quickly verified by looking thru. the vapor space above concentrated nitric acid. Experimental Proposal. Ideally, one could ask for the absorption coefficient as a function of wave­ length (over a very wide spectral range) and time after sunset on the air volume investigated. I t seems possible to get very useful data with a relatively simple experiment perhaps possible of inclusion in one of the manned orbital flights. Using a slow-speed movie camera, photograph the star field and such planets (including the moon) as opportunity permits, with approximately a 10° field of view and enough exposure to pennit photometric measurements as the light sources LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY .. . .. UNIVERSITY OP' CALIP'ORNIA L.09 ALAM09, Nl:W MUICO ' 1'0: Dr. Jocelyn Gill DATE: July 13, 1962 "pasa through" the atmoaphere, especially the abaorbill6 layer (perhap • ••• sequences already exif:>t). auch At the expected orbital height, I estimate a 7 km thick layer w~ld subtend,.., 1/2 degree and a given light source would "pass through" it in eight seconds. Attempts to derive a density distribution would requ.ire a fair number of points in the 111-1/2 or 2 degrees" (divide by 3 ?) so a frame interval near one per second _seems desirable. If operated continuously thru the ni.ght passage approximately 100 feet of 16 mm film would be required per passage • As a crude attempt at spectroscopy, color filters could be used on some of ✓ the sequences, without too serious light loss. For example, a Corning No. 5030 or No. 5543 filter would limit exposure to the wavelength range of maximum absorption by N02 (light loss may be considerable) ·and a Corning No. 3480 filter would limit exposure to the wavelength range where 0- absorption is negligible. Relatively broad band interference filters would be useable on the brighter stars and planets. Direct visual observation through such filters would also be useful, especially if photography is impractical and the astronaut tries to reproduce any attenuation noted by neutral density filters in combination with the same filters and stars used in space. Photometric observations of some of the "intense" airglows mentioned by various authors would also be very instructive • The increased intensity due to J external tangential viewing woul~ help a great deal, and precise height de­ . terminations could be made • It may be useful to ask Glenn and Carpenter to reproduce the dimming (as well ' / as memory allows) by narrow strips of neutral density filters against the star • I 1 1 . ' . .. LOS ALAMOS SCIENTIFIC LABORATORY UNIVERSITY OP' CALll"ORNIA l.09 ALAMO., NIEW MUICO -10 TO: Dr. Jocelyn Gill DATI: July 13, 1962 field they saw, or to compare the intensity and color changes noted with that thru an absorbing cell containing N02 • • 'Ihe required thickness is readily availabl.e. Acknowledgments The author has benefited greatly from discussions with several associates, especially as regards references to sources of upper atmospheric .and photochemical data. Dr. Robert Sherman has assisted in location of data on the absorption cross section of N02 • Dr. Arthur Cox suggested a number of references and confirmed the author's belief that reasonably accurate photometric observations could be made on photographs of a star field. Dr. Ieston Miller has emphasized the importance of even crude control of the wavelengths responsible for exposure. All of the men mentioned ·above are members of the Los Alamos Scientific Iaboratory. Dr. J. A. 0' Keefe of the Theoretical Division of the Goddard Space Flight Center generously discussed the observations of J. Glenn and S. Carpenter, and my hypo­ thesis regarding N02 absorption. He has referred me to the excellent articl.es in "'Ille F.a.rth as a Planet" and encouraged my submission of this letter. Future Work I would, of course, be interested in your opinion, and that of other experts in the field, of the above hypothesis. J observations on a future flight, we may be ·able to help on some points in data acquisition. --- .......... If your group recommends inclusion of such I am sure the project would deserve review and .control by a panel of men such as Bates and Nicolet. Respectfully submitted, ~y--~ BEW:jo Distribution: l - Dr. Jocelyn Gill. ' BOB E. WATI' Assoc. J-Div. Ldr. and Grp • .Ldr. J-16 .I In ~ly refer to: SGC:Mt:llll. 21 Feb~ 1962 MQl)BANDt){ Poeaible Subject: 1eritit1c Viaual IIitoruat1on Obtained 1>f J. H. Gl.enn 1. Two (2) 1ntentl'ting obaervationa r e ~ in the Pree , as ddcribed by Colonel GJ.enn ~ the NA-6 flight. It 11 ot Vit4U. 1ntereat to obtain a more 4ataUttd deacl'iption at tbfte ob e ~ t1ona in order that the &ccur&cy Md the detail• ot 'What,.. obseried may~ Pl'Ol*.rly Neoi"decl for ,oientitic eriJ.:uat1on. The two obaer­ vatioDB wre: ( ) T h e ~ ot the ~ t m.Jl!lbW or lUIJliriowl particles ap~tl.y travelling Vith t 1Pt,Cecratt at 1'r1endlhip-7 euifri1t ; and (b) Th altitudel or angular view o~ the -upper limb ot the tmo•ph&re. 2. The thouunda ot 1Ulll1n0ul parttcl.• • <!ascribed u travelling with tM apaoeoratt. It la in;IOrtant that Glenn describe 1n a.eta:11 preci~ th• obaervationil characteristic ■ under 'Which he aaw the piirt,1,.cl.. 1n or4ir to obtain an ..timate of the b~tne•e ot th•e ~ l c l • . 'fhe quat1cma that ww.d like anawerad What-. the bMi1 ot 01mn'• 4eterminat1on wt that the particles vere tuall.y t:s'Yell.1.ng ¥1th tho •pacecn:'aft and. vh4tther thia condi• t1on peraiated on aubuquent c>i'bit . In .a.dition, the ge<JDetey- or the obaMrrYatiana ehow.d be turther deacribed in order to ~rive th geanetric 41itrtbut10n at the parbicles relative to the e&pacecratt•a v:l.iuknr. ( ~ preoue obeervat1onal tw and th4I poe1t1on of sun1.ight lum1noa1ty can NllkJ:U:y be a.t4tj,ni;ned trom the orbit of the pacecratt itaelt). 'l'hee• particl• ~ be pocentr1c 1n origin and may' be ••pended in the - ~ - '1'bera ~ .t leUt tw hypot 1• tor a;pla1n1ng pantclAa tr&vellbJg v1th the apacecn,tt. 'l'he intensity c ~ to atarl~t aboul.4 lMt 4-termlned 8.1.ao tbia 1.nformat1on ia ot ~ • 1n 4 - ~ turther ~ormation about the a olute JIUlabex- and cros1•aectiona ot the 1)$'t1cl• may rel.ate to tbe dujt content or zodiaciil 11~ u WU u the gegen­ echein. HAND-CARBX NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION WASlijNGTON . O.C. SPECIAL GPO 16-76611- 1 NASA HEADQUARTERS ROUTING" SLIP \ NAME (if necmary) CODE 1. ~ 1-n - r I J.. -- 3. CONCURRENCE ~ ~ -- -•• 1 Rec'd IR·~ / C . \,fC V 4. ,,,_ II I '/ I I , .5(] ~ INFORMATION INVESTIGATE AND ADVISE NOTE AND FORWARD II / ~ JA ~ .il/f.l - / r ,A ~ 5. FILE 11h-l .-"" "" l;._ OU ~ ACTION APPROVAL 1 1'Ji f .... I - - - 011~ - NOTE AND RETURN PER REQUEST RECOMMENDATION SEE ME SIGNAT.t.JRE REPLY FOR SIGNATURE OF, 6. 7. REMARKS: oJ~ :;, ,~fa ODE, FROM: ~ GC NAME, I NASA form 26 (Rev. July 19~9) Dubin l~?h/62 • U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1959 Ol'-51302.1 In reply refer to: SGC:ML:ml 21 February 1962 MEMORANDUM Subject: Possible Scientific Visual Information Obtained by J. H. Glenn 1. Two (2) interesting observations were reported in the Press, as described by Colonel Glenn during the MA-6 flight. It is of vital interest to obtain a more detailed description of these observa­ tions in order that the accuracy and the details of what was observed may be properly recorded for scientific evaluation. The two obser­ vations were: (a) The report of the great number of luminous particles apparently travelling with the spacecraft at Friendship-7 sunrise; and (b) The altitudes or angular view of the upper limb of the atmosphere. 2. The thousands of luminous particles were described as travelling with the spacecraft. It is important that Glenn describe in detail precisely the observational characteristics under 'Which he saw the particles in order to obtain an estimate of the brightness of these particles. The questions that we would like answered are what was the basis of Glenn's determination~ that the particles were actua.lly travelling with the spacecraft and 'Whether this condi­ tion persisted on subsequent orbits. In addition, the geometry of the observations should be further described in order to derive the geometric distribution of the particles relative to the spacecraft's window. (The precise observational time and the position of sun­ light luminosity can readily be determined from the orbit of the spacecraft itself). These particles may be geocentric in origin and may be suspended in the atmosphere. There are at least two hypothesis for explaining particles travelling with the spacecraft. The intensity compared to starlight should be determined also as this information is of importance in determining further information about the absolute number and cross-sections of the particles and may relate to the dust content of zodiacal light as well as the gegen­ schein. , - 2 In a similar manner, the observations of the horizon and the extent of the atmosphere are of great interest in determining the distribution of various atmospheric characteristics. The precise lighting conditions regarding the position of the sun and the intensity of the outer edge of the horizon as observed by Colonel Glenn may be used in the consideration of what Glenn actually saw. For example, he may have seen the limit of the atmosphere (based on the 8 degree limb described in the press, the atmosphere apparently extended to over l50 Km) by Rayleigh scattering; he may have seen the airglow; or he may have seen the MIE scattering from dust in the atmosphere. The true limiting angle of his observations and a graph of the itltensity drop-off with angle from the earth should be obtained in addition to the lighting conditions. It is recommended that this information be obtained from Colonel Glenn as soon as possible. Maurice Dubin Head, Aeronomy Program Geophysics & Astronomy Programs Office of Space Sciences FL ______ SG_........fl___ Fellows DRAFT OF NOTE ON THE SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS Towa rd the end of the flight, between 16 hr and 47 min (UT) and 17 hr and 03 min (UT), 24 May 1962, Lt. Cdr . Carpenter made a series of observat i ons on a l uminous band vi sible a round the hori zon. The most de ci s i ve observat i on wa s made wi th an ai r glow f i lter suppli ed by Mr. Iawrence Dunkelma n of Goddard Space Fli ght Center. The f i lter transmits a narrow ba nd of wavelengths, approx i.mately 11 Angstroms wi de at the ha lf power poi nt and centered at t he wa, ve length of the strongest radi ation of the ni ght a i rglow, namely 5577 Angstroms The f i lter cut out a ll other Ught, but passed the light of the , luminous ba nd, which i s thus i denti f i ed a s the 5577 l a ye r . Lt. Cdr. Carpenter noted tha t the layer was very bri ght. He f ound t hat Phecda:Ursae Majori s, magn i tude 2.5 was lost to s i ght a t the brighte s t pa rt of the layer. Assuming that the i mage of Phecda occupi es about 1 SY.Uare -8 mi nute of' arc on the retina, or 8.18 x 10 magni tude o.8 yi elds 10- o_,)J- steradi ans, O.ssuming that a s tar of 6 lux (1umensJm2 ) we f i nd that the brightness of t he l aye r i s about 3 lumen1m2 )(steradian) or 3 x 10- 4 st i lbs. Thi s i s e ~ui va l ent ~t (S"-~) t o about 4 x 104 erg;,m2 )(sterad:i.anh_, taking the le a st mechani cal e y_ui va le nt of light as 1. 6-1 x 10- 3 watts per lumen f or 556o A as per the AIP ha ndbook . It is about 50 t i mes as bright as a white surface i lluminated by moonlight. The a ngular he i ght of the layer was found i n 5 d i fferent ways : t he twilight layer. 1. By dire ct esti mate - 8° to 10°. 2. By noti ng that it is approximately twice the height of Lt. Cdr. Carpenter estimated the he i ght of the twi light l a yer a,s 5 sun diameters , whi ch means 2-1/2 degrees, hence the he i ght of the 5577 layer would be 5°. 3. By observation of the star Phecda (ju Ma) a s it pa ssed t he middle of the luminous band. 4. By noting the time when Phecda was halfway f rom the lumi nous oand to the horizon. 5. By noting the fact that when the cross of the reti cle r.~ ,th(.. 'A 1,( ·1 i) ~ /).\ \>.-.( ! i s set diagonally,~ just covers the distance from the band to the hori zon. By method 3, we make use of the time of passage through the middle J of the layer. This point is marked by a re f erence to a mark on the telemeteri ng. enl:y: ee found on ~he gr ottae. etatiea ta:r;,e s, .:i. ~ '-"'' .;i.--,c.:h •" .,.;.~1 ).."f' cn\:!r . L\ t r f e ,, 4e r v a:'.. efl 1:,Pe Mt yet svail:a:til.e, ~ l,y careful timing of the capsule t ape'/\ it ,,. appear s to have been very close to a 4h "1,m j.9s, capsule elapse d time, i.e., 16h5cPl/5s. UT. For this instant the capsule coordinates as i nterpola ted from the Woomera tra cking data, were - longi tude - 127° 40:0 latitude = -18° 49:8 he i ght = 226 kilometers At thi s moment, the l i ne of sight to ( Ursae Majoris was t angent to t he l ayer of maxi mum thi ckness of 5577. The angular zen i th distance oft U Ma a t t hi s time was found to be 101°42 1 • A line of this zeni th dista nce i s t a ngent t o a spherical shell of the proper radius whi ch i s 137 ki lometers below the capsule or 89 ki lometers above sea level. Ac cordingly, thi s observa t i on should be i nterpreted a s i ndicating that the densest part of the 5577 l aye r i s at a he ight of 89 ki lometers, which is in good a greement with rocket mea sures. The lower limit of the visible light appeared to be near 78 ki lometers ; r t / ht 5/ derrmtat1f . i3/no. t p nie1d aysif1fi,/ bt, j~i n1 a 1/1111io/u~ / hell /1 s /ex-p/c~ to/dim/nisVgragla11r d~wara i, /a6arentlbri ~~e9i , e4en} r . faf~8} 1/ _v}r/ ¢1/1• /4 is . #J.JJiJlliJJJlfl:!J°Y:!iJJJ,~v.~ir The f i lter observati on on the airglow was made at 17h 0~ 6s, UT. Sunrlse was observed at about 1m later, while the observation was going on. It follows that the airglow is visible even when the twilight band is very strong. An attempt to observe i t in the day is certainly indicated. In this connection, it should be noted that Capt. V. I. Grissom reported a grayish band at the top of the blue sky layer. Space Flight, (Pesults of the Second U. S. Manned Subqrbita l NASA, GPO (1961). le remembers this layer as narrow and grayish i n color, representing an actual i ncrease in intensity. He po i nted out the approximate position of the layer on one of Lt. Cdr. Carpenter's photographs at the height of 1.7 degrees above the horizon. Grissom may have observed the da ytime airglow. Carpenter did not note any structures, either vertical or horizontal, in this layer. He did not observe it completely around the horizon but believes ·1 l to be continuous all the way. a ctually absorb starl:ight. It does not appear possible that this layer can Any layer at this level capable of absorbing a noticeable fraction of the light (25i or more) would also scatter light strongly; i t would therefore be a very prominent object on the daylight side. is not definitely visible on the photographs of the day side. In fact, it Thl s i s entirely i. n agreement with Lt. Cdr. Carpenter's impression, namely that the decreased visibility of stars passing through the layer was a contrast effect. A remarkable feature of this observatton is the discrepancy between the eye estimates of 8',.10° for the alt i tudes above the hori zon, on the one hand, and the results of timed observations on the other. altitudes of 2° to 36 . The latter i ndi cates The latter are clearly correct; f or example, Carpenter noted tha t when one ann of his reti cle was at an angle of 45°, it covered the space between the horizon and the bright band. The crossann is 1.21 centi meters i n length and it is a distance of 26.2 centimeters from the astronaut's eye. At an angle of 45°, i t subtends a vertical angle of about 2°.6. It thus appears that there i s a strong i llusion whi ch exaggera tes angl es near the horizon, and whi ch was evi dently also present i n MA-6 , s i nce Lt . Col. Glenn a lso reports 7° to 8° as the height of the luminous ba nd. The i llusion is perhaps comparable to the well-known illusion which makes the moon seem larger near the hori zon. Carpenter also noti ced and photographed the Glenn e f fect. He reports white objects resembling snowflakes, seen at sunri.se on all three orbits. ' However, he also saw these objects 7 minutes after the f i rst sunrise and aga i n 43 minutes after sunrise; and zll, llm, 23m, 26ffl, 3(1!! and 45m after the second sunri se. It i s thus quite clear that they are not related to sunri se, except pe rhaps i n the sense of being most easily visible then. Carpenter managed to photograph a few of these particles. Some of them we re very considerably brighter than the moon, which was then very near the f i rst quarter. At this t i me, the moon i s about -10; the particles may have been be­ t ween -12,5 magni tude (10 x bri ghter than the moon) and -15 magni tude (100 x bri ghte r than the moon). The second i s -considered more l i kely, in vi ew of the appearance of the full moon (-12,5) as shown on MA-6 photographs. At -15 , the parti cle brightness i s consistent with centi meter size snowflakes. The partic les were verbally described by Carpenter as between l mm and 1 cm i n size , and having a strong visual resemblance to snowflakes. Shortly before reentry, just at sunri se, Carpenter performed the de­ ci s i ve experi ment of hitting the capsule walls with hi s hand. The blows promptly resulted i n the liberation of large numbers of particles. It i s thus clear that 17 at least those parti cles observed in the MA-6 flight emanated from the capsule . The possibility that the particles might be dye marker or shark re­ pe l lant , both of which are green and both of which a re exposed to the va cuum, was considered by Mr. Frank M. Crichton, NASA capsule inspector. Crichton had te st s made which demonstrated that ne i ther materi al tended to escape f rom the package i n a vacuum. The possibility that it might represent small partic les from the fiberglass i nsulator was also considered; in view of the smallness of the fi bers, it appears l :lkely that they would have been blown away at once, l Lke the Mylar confetti. The dynamic pressure of 1 dyne m2 is sufficient to L\I'" \\, ••''\ remove at once~weighing less than about 10 to 100 milligrams cm2 ; which corresponds to a thickness of the order of 0. 3 to 1 mi llimeter for most ordinary substances. As menti oned in the MA-6 report, there are two plausible sources withi n the capsule for these parti cles. (1) Snow formed by condensation of steam from the life-support system. (2) Small particles of dust, waste, bits of i nsulation and other sweepings. The latter are very consp i cuous in a zero g environment, when there l s nothing to keep them down; it is found to be extraordinarily difficult to free the i nterior of the capsule of such material. Undoubtedly, the exteri or parts of the capsule which are exposed to the environment will contain these things, and they undoubtedly play a part i n the Glenn effect. In pa rticular , a corkscrew shaped piece observed by Carpenter was probably a t urning or perhaps a raveled piece of insulation. On the other hand, there is considerable evidence which points to snow as the source of the majority of the material. In the first place, water is dumped out of the capsule i n far larger quantities t han any other substance. In the second place, the material looked like snowflakes both t o Glenn and to Carpenter. In the third place, the fre ~uency with whi ch the Glenn e ffe ct i s reported by Carpenter appears to be correlated with the tempera ture of the exterior of the capsule as recorded by thermocouples in the shi ngles. The temperature was always lowest at night, falling to temperatures of -35°C just be f ore sunrise, a nd rising to plus 10°c just a fter sunr"i se. DJ.ri ng the se cond da y , the tempera tures were lower, rea ch i ng about -25°c during portions of the da y . From about 3h 3dn, CET, on the second period of sunli ght, the temperatures were h i. gher, ·,. nd, bnly one part l cle is ment i oned . I f' the effect i.s indeed due to condensation of moisture, t he n t he broad end oi' t he capsule is a more likely source than the na rrow end , be cause t he temperatures were 200c or more higher at the n;:i.rrow end. The condensation probably took place ·Lnside the capsu le, r a ther tha n outside, because even at the lowest recorded sh i.ngle ·i..<::l.ilJ;)r.::-:.l·ture , a round -50°c, the vapor pressure o ver ice amounts to about 0.039 milliba rs. Although this pressure is very low, i. t greatly exceeds the ambtent pressure at the lowest capsule altitudes. Accordingly, it is not possible that snowf lakes should f orm under these circumstances, even though it is true that the capsule mu st be surrounded by an expanding atmosphere of wa ter vapor. If the water-vapor expands freely, ;_ t is clear tha t the pressure at a dis t ance of 1 meter f rom a hole 1 cm in di ameter wi.11 be of the orde r o i' 1/10 ,000 of the press ure at the hole. Hence i t i. s f airly cle ar t hat t he pressure i nside the capsule will be far higher than the outside pressure, i n sp i. te of the presence of 18 one-centimeter apertures. Hence condensation within the capsule l s more likely than condensation outside. It is noteworthy tha t no f ormati on of rime was noti ced either on the window or on the balloon stri ng . It i s con­ s i dered most likely that tne particles of the Glenn effect are snowflakes f ormed -L n the capsule, between the cabin bulkhead and the heat shi eld by the steam e xhaust from the li.fe-support system. It is suggested that they es cape i nto spa ce through the porte, being driven outward. by the expanding vapor. t hat at 02 52 47, Carpenter noted a particle moving faster than he. he planned to observe sunrise and was facing forward. probably seen east of him. Note At 02 50 00 , This particle was thereby Most of the particles are seen behind hi m and f alli ng • • J ... back. This supports the idea that the partlcles probably are pushed outward by t he expanding steam from the capsule, before they begin to stream backward. It l s probable that many of the particles lodge on the outside of the capsule, since Carpenter i s quite sure, from the direction of streami ng a cross the wi ndow, that the particles came from a point near where the knocking was done. Carpenter obtained two excellent photographs of the sun when just abov~ the horizon. Ct, fft.,;~c. ( n~'(':, These photog.ra:phs plainly sh~w. the flatte~ed,, sa\.lsage- . .. ·kc.h""' ,, + ~\:~ thh \- v:,h .. 1" \\(. ';,(..\.v .,.,_,, \ , \(~ \-h<v ~h-'- y--r,'> •,,11 0,v I>' • ~"',\,( ei,., tr,-, , ,1 ·t )c ,., .., ,rr shaped f onn photographed earlier by Glenn.,'\ Calculations of this theoretical shape are being made at this ,time for compar.i son with the astronaut observations . The flattened shape is due to the fact that the lower port i on of the sun's d i sk is seen through layers whtch refract the l.ight much more strongly than those through which the upper part is seen. flattened. As a conse~uence, the whole d Lsk appea rs A s i milar, but much smaller flatten i ng has long been known to be observable f rom the ground. A part of the i nterest of tht s phenomenon comes from the fact that at great distances, as at the moon, the e ffect of this refrac t i on is to make the sun appear as a red ring of light around the earth. l " '"~ '> r SCIEN'.rinc DEBRIEFING ... . •' Ji.me , 1, 1963 (First Experiment • Flashing Light) John McKee: One of the first questions that I have regards some estimates you made of the beacon distance. Were those based ·entirely on the knowle of how bright it was tram p~vious aircraft training ·or do ·you feel there was some other distance cue somehow involved in the ·test. J Cooper: No. If I had no prev;ous experience on the light·, I don Vt believe I would have had any possibility of telling how far it was except· that on that second night pass after ejecting the light. Apparent'.cy the sun was shining on it as I saw this steady glow, up to about · my level on the orbital path. At that time I bad a little bit more depth perception on it ·a nd could ') . seem tp note the proper drift on it. That was the first time that I •saw it. and t o the experiments we _q;f,d on :the aircraft When we had radar measurement • I you notice the pitch rate.? -- or what was the sensation? . Cooper: · No, I ~idn't notice any 'rate as such. I cou1d really feel the spacecraft and to me it felt Jµst like there were doors banging ·open down there,.,as it departed and Just a li~tle bit .of a Jolt: through _~he : t' • • spacecraft. It was a good so~d thump when it 'took· oft. \ I • ' ~. h .· A~ ~ ... .' . • ·' • • •• '. , '' ,r~·:/; ._, : ri-~ Scientific Debriefing Bill .Armstrong: Act~ Gordo, it turned out, it gave you about a half of • a degree per second in the opposite direction. This was very apparent on th postfiight record. You can see your ·thruster ·acti~ when you start to pitch ' ' up El.lld then as you come right to the bottom of the curve you can see this little blip on your rate; and then the attitude started back' the other we;yo Something on the order of a half of e. gegree per ·secon .I t was real definite. or e. little moreo It was real definite where it occurred. Well what it does is start your pitch back the other ·~• ·' a:riy thruster action to go ,back 1n the other _ direction, ' you deployed. to pitch back down .afte~ I You. went to cage - to retroattitude and the attitudes just It was real ·clear on the records where it went 1out .. and start back .over. / Shepard: Say, in regard to the first question, do you think because you . ' had th~ earth as background you could Judge d~stan~e, . because you ha~ e , as background'l Cooper: I think possibly so~ Of course it's like an airplane when it·•s a considerable distance out. It is almost impossible to judge the distan ' You can talk yourself into believing it -is almost any distance fro I . . you, ,. And when it gets on 1n closer you really have a bit m?re perspective awe;y. I did feel that I had almost Judged the distance on that first t on ito In fact I didn't even "!:>elieve that was it when .I first saw ito • t cou1tln't I I• , . ." think of anything ·else that it could be but it was just solid lighto ~d -, ;r. ' . . • ·,. • . . ., i . • . -~ {_ 1 ~ t ..._.., ··~~ ,[!, '"' it turns -' out looking ' back now 6n it, · I -am..sure this.... was because_the s~.'. :~- ::· -~~ .~,, . ~ Sci~ntific Debriefing -3- had not completely set; !')11-sure 1'113' ·retro pack .area was in the eunligh~•-,. , . ' I'm sure that is what I saw the sun reflecting ·off of it. . glowing,--was ' . AJ.though I had, not seen it tram· previous viewing OD tbe day side or the night _si~eo McKee: When you didn't see it OD the first night side, did ~ou have any personal feeling that the light' wasn't ~hing? 1; 1 Did you correct your F,.. ~ ...,, .· attitude when you didn't see .it or· did you have any feeling what the problem .··:. ., , - • I • l •, , was? ,. Cooper:. I Just don't have any idea. 'I- • - • •~ -, • ' . - • -,-~ ;' _·•: ... ,~ ' . .. I kept doubting Jey"Sel~~ • This was . the first time of course that I .had ever tried aligning to small end forward, . • . a 180° yaw -as weJ.call it and of course aligning , on the night sideo ' to doubt that I was aligned properly, , ·,.'., I begaxi I . . / I went to the star charts and rechecked • • ., , ¥ ,, ~ ~ • , ..: • - • " l't J ') • night I was aligned exactly ·on and in using the horizon .line J~t about 1n : ,,: ,1• •. I " r 1 r and found 1n fact that I was not quite aligned correctly at· first . . ·But then ..• :•..:, ,, I did double check ' and found that I was --- I'm sure several times thru the ' .·,· >.'.--~ i !' , . ~. . .the middle of the window even moving up and down almost.. invariably• - -- • don't have any idea why I didn't see it. ,. Bill .Armstrong: You .did change your ·attitudes? ·That was one of·the th . . I wanted to Knowo• I?o you remember at the beginning of t~e night phase, . you first start looking : low and then toward th~.'·eni· ' . ust sort /of scan the area or vb&: •• ~ o/ -did·. • ' • t f •"''" • •, -4- Scientific Debriefing Coo:per: Well first I started trying to get Tfl¥. 180° yaw point. This is not the easiest thing in the world to get on the night side, and particular~ . . , ,_ when you have to go ...... into your ■tar charts norn:ia.;uy been used to using them. -me the proper orientation. 50 ~ute1 ahead ot Where :,ou had • ir:.finally did find star patterns that gave ' ,I was wiing, around 15 to 120 degrees pitched downi \ I .was just keeping the horizon ~ th~ sort of bottom ' ')" \ •' I I got_around. ·this area, I then tried varying ·the· attitude ~P and down tolook for the light~ . .. I You mentioned ' in your repOrt that,--you talked about approx She:pard: 25 minutes a:f'ter you caged your gyros, that you saw' a ·lot of li'ghtning par'tfcularly in that area. .: • '.o:. Cooper: · Well, · this is .,one possibility· that there was a slight compromise to the . light. 1 Particularly on the first night side there was co~iderabl large lightning down ther_e . I found concentrations of large thundersto •right up .in there and saw quite a lot iof -light flashing through fairly I large areas. I still don't believe that even on the other night spite.• of these I still could\ see :the light even with -:this as a·- ba.ckgroun .. ... . . ~ , . ·•· It is r~ally not an excuse for ·not seeing it ,and I really honest]¥ _ I ', . . ~-- ; .- ~ ...... - say why I didn •t. . I had 'b~gun ~o doUbt th~t ,1~ was re ~ .., ~ • • • I • I • :• p~ of the Window ~d~•:-1·!_·, :./·:~'l~·~ ;{ \ 1 ,. ·,.'.,, ,·. ----··· .. flash - •• C •• • t .., ,f- '· • ,•• ·, -5- Scientific Debriefing The moon was probably 14-al. Cooper: It was down to about a third moon. It was a ver:, distinctive moon vb~ you ·could see it but it' wasn.'t causing the great amount of light tbat a . twU moon would have caused. , , I could see I the glow on the ground, on. the· clouds :~d on the land, from the moono ., It '. up just at t1:ie .last part c,f the ~n1Jtrt. ·It- was never ·close to th~ moo:Q. 1 deylighto . Bill ,Armstrong: 'i. in-the retro pack area; they ·ran •.cooler, this flight. Bill Carmines said th$t they- b-4: ~;ualJ~· flashed the light at thi~ lo~r ' temperatures without .any probla. Re talked to Langley people and he says ' . that i~ the light had fail~ 1;0. work the first time it would have never : , ·warmed enough later in the n:1~t to start flashing. . - , .'· •• it no~ having been ·working t-he f:Lrst time Bll;d then ·worked the second t:1.me.,,.·, Do ·you think your _att,itude. ,..~~ •-eauld you tell any difference •in your attitude, the second night vl,Am -~ ·: st •do you think 70\1. . • . ·, ( $.alf the ·llgbt. : •• . It is hard to visuali~T .. ~: ; . ' In yaw as C?JDPared ~ed d~ ~b~ter the ,1 ~ tip'. • • • ;. I' Scientific Debriefing Cooper: .' -6- Well, not realq. well estimate 18o0 yaw. As I went into both night sides I cc;>u.ld pretty The first' night side I was not complete:cy around, , ,·~ I started :,awing around &114 ni,gbt wu audde~ upon me and I wasn°t quite in ' ' • 0 / 0 I ' the :t'ull 180 positi~, so I did have to hunt ,for 'the 180 posi~ion a little' • ' bit• . On the second n:i..ght -side af'ter -I ejected the -light, I was alre&q¥ in_' I • I ' · m:, 180~ position before ·g oing -into the night side. ..... ~+~• Merce;: H6w ·liigb above or ·below horizon line or -~dow did you look ·for light! ./; :; , • • • ' . I • , I , I . , In other words how .f ar down "or :how; high did you go with your ·pitch .attitude? / ¾:,' • I ::.;, ')} .. On the first night s.i de I .allowed it to drift very, very slow:cy and •·~ • _• .. , : , . • Cooper: .,. . , ... ' "'J. \t. , .. , .. t :, ' changed them as I needed to, 'very very· slight:cy to keep m:, yaw on 180° and· /./. '.., Y· \ But X went '&1.1 tlle ~ down to it varied back and forth very ·sl.igbt:cy. ' ) I t, . •' ;~ ~;~ ·, ,,,.~ t\ '• ' , where the horizon ·1would fill the ·whole window and up to where. I Just ba.re:cy , ..,- ¼·.J., ·; \ • •, · • . •. . • ., • ~. . , __ i .1,.·.t- \,. r ~ ~ h¢ the horizon in sight. / "7 ' •r • . ,· \,. . . • • • ' • • ' Bill ,.Armstrong: · Did you see it cane right a'WIQ" ·when · you·:iooked .on I nigb.t'l 'I ,,. / ' ; / In oth • · ·- :rd8 °you :picked it up. • J ;"' ,' "..' •' :'i # -1- Scientific Debriefing Cooper: .Almost. Just like that. Almost as it began to get dark. Zam it gets dark~ Of course it gets dark I had Just,--it was dark earth background and as I say 'lI13 first teeling on at,eing it was definitely coming :f'rom below_ j very very slowly. As I watched it was getting higher in 'lI13 line of sight to the I ·earth. In other words as I ·was holding -the earth on .a fixed place1ton the window this was coming u~. finally ·up to 'lI13 level. It was · coming up in relation to me, and was And ·. as I saw it coming up it was solid light. My first though. on it was -that it looked Just like th·e missiles that I have seen . I , ' • • • • I • It didn't have the same glow but it· was • ' • • • • ' .. ' ~ a ·high·• launched at night :f'rom Cape C~veral; when rou 're t:cying at night at altitude. and see them launched. ' • ' ....., ':,I I' ·1 very· very bright, and solid and <seemed to becoming up. ,, •' •• - Bill Armstrong:_ That is something else we checked into• . It would have be~--;~ impossible for this light to have been steady_for -you. It is neceSS_!ll'Y to , / ' fully charge the condenser and then get a quick discharge. Cooper: •,· • That's why I think .it mat have been the suns~ine on it Because of t~e altitude we were both at, the sun ·would be shining on it at that point. I had Just gone •into :the night side.~ Even though i~ was dark • • I . I if I had yawed around to zero _yaw it ·would have been in ·. the bright sun., . ~ f • • • ' I I ' .. 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. -. '. ' just coming to the horizon. If woul.d have· 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 the angle .change is. 'l'he second night a:f'tier depl.oyment •Just ·a bout ., ,_ . . at sunset 1t start·s up through the .horizon and 't hen all the time .during the ' • ' second night phase it is .above th~ horizon. · Then the third C)ne is · above the 1 hor.:Lzon all of the·'time. ,. -9- Scientific Debriefing Bill Armstrong: You get a 30 degree angle view througb'._the window. the top of the window to the bottom, variation of ·. 30 degrees. John: '·' How far ·would he have to pitcp down'l Bill Armstrong: He would probably have to be below retroattitudeG to almost have all earth · in the window. Cooper: Probably about 30 degrees G I had a ~-:few comments that I made · on the onboard tape about the . . "1· . 1 . "I am at . 4st daylight going ixlto ·looking ,for that flashing · . dark" I had been . ·beacon. "This light in sight is below me. ~ It is quite a brownish In other words I was b;rown and considerable ~titude above the ground." convinced it was not a light down on_the ground but _it had ·movemento I t mentioned several other items here such as this light being ·visibl_e _among the starso "The ligJ;it is f.1lashing, now. I bright and quite discernible. It is· the lighto It is quite I It appears to be about -10 to l2 miles awayo I'm keeping it exactli in the windpw. About the order ·of a second magnitude .. • ' \. star now." and that time was 05:ll:34. ".The light is sM.µ in sight in .the ··. • • -· . . ;' ~ .; ' ' center of the window. 11 • l Bill Armstrong: • Did you,--acc?rding to -the voice tape it. xruq, have yawed away a _little bit then ·. and then c;:ame .-back.. Did you yaw away and -t?hen •come right back to ~t'l , Scientific Debriefing Cooper: Just once. Bill Armstrong: Did you do it twice or Just once? .1, Cooper: ·' No, , I kept it 1n s,ight for quite awhile ·ap.d then yawed away from ·it and then came right back. Cooper: At 05:13:40 I made some coments on the Mi1q Way and varioW;J things and at 05:16:35 the light was still in sight. Thunderstorms were in under it at the moment but it was still quite distinctive.. And this at 05:18:05. Bill Armstrong: What brightness do you think you need if you ·. are . going to try to acquire some target in space. Cooper: It was very distinctive both t1I!1-es. At this brightness where i~ was on the second .night side af'ter the ejection, both times it was very ' distinctive more than ·the brightness of course, it was the flashingo , On the third night side it was extreme~ faint but the ·flashing allowed me,to pick it up.·' I wouldn't have been .able to see it .t he third night but fl.ashing. Bill .Armstrong: Do you think that either at the initial acquisition -of the . > .t hing ·or ·e,v en toward. the end of the second night phase the 1?rightnessl would "_ . . . .. : b~ sufficient if you wOUld be •t7:Ying to l~cate a re~de~vous target'l :· ,. • I Scientific Debriefing Cooper: I think so. • -llI think with that brightness~ if you know approximately '. where to look for the thing and with _it flashing, you certa~ ought to be ( able to find it pretty· readily. Day: , Do you think similar experiments should be carried on ·or is this sµfficient'l Cooper: I think this prob~bly shows us 'What we:- really want to seeo ther e is going to be problem like there is in .aircraft a I think As YO:U move to it you are going to have to have something that gives a little bit more capability to obtain distance f'rom it at the time; su~ as perhapa,-two lights , that you cou.l~ raµge on; like naVigation lights on aircra:t'to I QuestiQn: Were internal lights .on in the night observations? ,.. . Cooper: ' On most night aides I had all the lights down complet.ely and used ' I I just the glove lights to read , critical items. Bill Armstrong: On ·t;he third night phase you say you had to do a good bit ,, of' searching. ; Were you searching the entire third night, and when did you fir-st see it'l · ,1 I ·c ooper: Slightly past the middle of the night. I think that on the third ~ight side the· brightness was such that it was sheer accident that I found \. If _)rou Just happen to pass it' in t~e scan pattern you might _s ee it flashing, , I ( :tt would, however,· be very easy to Imiss. .. • ,/ ·,scientific Debriefing Bill Armstrong: • l2- You feel brightness suitable f'or a rende~vous be something on the order. of second or third magnitude. I • l • .' • . ~ l •• . •. • - ' Cooper: ' Yeso That 1 s one of t he main things we wanted to ·r ind out.. Bill: of the secon~ night l ook about right? Does Was the third night too d:l.m'l . ' Cooper: Bill: Yes, the third one is .getting ·a little too d:l.mo ., I • Do you think you have got to have good sighting information .to pick . ,. • I • these up ev:en 'W'ith bright light7 J' C~o:per: Well, it is a pretty big sky at night .up there and there are a lot of bright starso I I t hink ·y ou're going to have to have some -sight~g,..date. to get within a ~easonable ~one area to hunt . for ito McKee: What about the flash ·:rrequency r ate'l • Cooper: I I think the f lash rate could be cut downo I think you could maybe haJ.ye the flash rateo • I woul.d rather .- see it twice as bright and see it fl.ash ·\ , . ., half as of'teno , A distinctive. ·: . flash , rate, even -one every two seconds is. stii;t ,. . . I May1>e not quite as distinctive as ·the one per second, but it •Still wbuld . ' attract your ~ttention. _Bill: • How about the· deploy marks? -13- Scientific Debriefing Cooper: Those deploy marks worked real well. in 1·etroattitude also. They were excellent for getting They -position your head ·to a real positive position, ' , I " I Bill: We have read the attitude ·records pretty carefull:yo 20 a.nd 22 degrees, so you were right in .there. You were between ' Do you think the window I smudges, the discoloration of the window, might have had significant effect? Do you think it produced enough attenuation to cause any trouble? , . Act~ I tried and tried to note how much attenuation you get at ,.night. . It's just a few seconds until the time you get dark-adapted; I thought you became dark .adapted very rapidly, and I didn't see or note any real attenuationo • • I am sure there was some as there was definitezy smudge layers there .. .- But·,,. it didn't seem to be.... The bright stars sure seemed bright. . ' . ,,,. (, Bill Armstrong:. • J)id you a c t ~ see the light against the ground'l • , • \ Cooper: Yes. I made this comment ·here that I even saw it against the thunderstorm. I John Boynton: · o Go:;t.;do, you talked about the flash rate. The flash rate in , your debriefing ·might have been ·. slightzy below a flash per ·second. , Cooper: I did it on the tape • . I counted off here on the. tape so. you could get it of~ the t~pe. I counted 1,2,3,4,5,6,7; slightzy s+ower ·than ·one flash .per. second.. It seemed to me that . I Scientific Debriefing Question: . What did it check out'l i -ii' •1~ .j Carmines: ·.62 (flashes per minute). l \ Bill: Did you make attempts to see it· on the day side'l Cooper: I sure did. I never saw it then• . Armstrong: It should ·have been closer on the dey side than in the night portiono , It came 1in c;l.oser, arid started out away some time during ·the f:t,rst . day. pass ) Before you picked it up it had started out again. It should have been in to about two miles sometime during the first day sideo Cooper: At first I was on 180 degrees .yaw, and allowed it to dri:f't offo ·, ' _back' ,' • didn't find it, but e·e'fore I got to the next night side,- I brought yaw . • to 180 degreeso· There was a possib_ility I .m issed •it thereo . ,, ~ McKee: Did the flash seem very consistant'l Cooper: Yes, it seemed to be very consistant . . Carmines: Cooper: Carmines: Did you see it tumble'l ~ ,,,.,)II'~ • • ••; Scientific Debriefing Bill: -15- The spread of light isn't too great. J ', Coope~: It is pretty hard to Judge the; light Mercer: Did .you see the ·stars during this• ~'l , Cooper: I Not this particular ··orbit. I No I didn't. I (Second Experiment • Balloon J?.ra,g) Dey: Mr. Carmines will you give. us a quick run-down on ·.the -balloon ·expe failure? Carmines: I tal.ked with Instrumentation people and everyone agreed that we really don't know what happened. We had one relay actuateo There are · several possibil.ities • . To me the most l.ikely place of trouble is the final • plug. The pins are on the pigtail and in putting this together you can bend ' \ I W~ checked the plug :and.in this case the these pins and get a misalignment. ' :pin is near ·the case ~d if it ~ent it could ground.. I Bill: . • The squibs were in parallel and a number ·of ·tests showed' eithe:x: •one '.- ·• .. of the squib would fire the latch. I I ' The most probable cause , is in ·the circ,uitry., 'I ' (Discussionoon ·G~ound Light _Observation) , Bill Armstrong: How hard wa.s it to pick up the light when .you .first Did you have -t rouble picking ·up this ground light at all? , I , , • - ' ,' -· l, '·. . . .. -. , . ---: -, :, • , • • •. . ' I , ',, ' -16- . Scientific Debriefing •. ; >fl' ' '· ' ,. Cooper: No. It was just a bit :further to the l.e:f't than I thought be. More toward'. the · center of' the window? Bill: Cooper: Noo More slight]¥ to the le:f't of' the window. yawed ·off a l.ittl.e. I coul.d have been I thought the pattern of the l.ittl.e town, . it was by was rea.l.ly more distinctive than the l.ight. , If' I hadn't "imown _the light was there I 'WOul.dn_'t have sel.ected it in preference to· l.ots of other lights I saw' on t he ground,--•if' it hadh't been for the l.ittl.e horseshoe-shape towno ,Bill Armstrong: What brightness did you see at thi's attitude? . . I woul.d sq it , was about between third and fourth magnitude • I BaW it. '7· . AB you continued to obse;rve it · did Y9U notice ~t dimming?,, Bill: Cooper: Noo I coul.d see it f'or se:veral. s_econds-. One f'alicy of the ground lights is ·that you are moying on the ground pretty rapidlyo_ You don't have mariy seconds to ·observe any ·:f'ixed points op. the groundo It's moving right on past you and gone fair]¥. rapid]¥. . ·of' course as it gets on .out it gets dimmer ·t ,, ,. ~ and dimmer • •,Question:· / Havet yOU .&J;IY idea how~_lo~· you ·~ able -to ob,serve it? : ; ' \ Scientific Debriefing -17- Cooper: I doubt if it was that long, I Maybe as long as a minute. I 30 or 40 seconds. I lost it because it got too weak. It was a long~ :f'rom being. straight out on the ,, horizon but as it got . on up towards that direction it faded outJ ' ,' I Bill: In checking the plot, it ·1ooks like it varies from a little over second magnitude when you forst saw it to about a sixth magnitude when the light was turned off. ' • ' I / McKee : Do you know what angle you pitched down to'l Cooper: . I believe it was to -40. I was then at ~he angle we were to pitch to. . I apparently had eased off in ya~. well right up the window. i " However ·it tracked pretty So the yaw was fairly ~ell: ·on. But the., · • - light was off a li~tle further to the lef'to ·, . Bill:· Did you· ever look away from the light and then .look . back? able to do this and ·pick it up again? , Cooper: .I took ray eyes off of it and had them on the photometer and looked •• through the hole in it and extincted it. Turned the dial the wrong way in / ',.,1 • the ,d ark,,' and I- did extin.c t ·a ll right.· I thought I'd ge1; a good reading on ·, • • .: • , , it. ,,, I I I gave that device ·up. It did extinct. Bill: ;• Did you ever notice any change ,I ' ll~ , ~ ' • ' I : ~... I ' • ,. 1' ' Scientific Debriefing -J.8- Cooper: Yes, it got dimmer. Mercer: Cou1d you see l_ights 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 ·e ast 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? , / , . '. -19- Scientific Debriefing Cooper: ~finite~: The ideal would be a series of lights. A better combination would be a series ot flashing ·lights arranged in .some pattern. , ~ e like a running rabbit strobe pattern. I am sure it wouldn't have to be synchronized. Bill: 'You mentioned how fast :fast you were moving. Do you think you had enough time to make use of some sighting ·device such as -a sextant? . Cooper: You aren·!t going to be able to take very long. readingso Youvre going to ~ave ✓ to be set up and ready to go, and you 're going to have to have some devices .that are •r e ~ usable. You figure that when you get from the west coast of the United states to the east coast of the United States, the , . ' ground is moving under you fair~ rapi~ in ten minutes. The ground is . moving t .oo fast. You need to have some devices that are r e ~ usable and you need to be se~ up and ready t(? go. ' . seconds for a reading._ Bill Armstrong: ' I guess you have about 20 to 30 One · of the•·,·phas·e s· of the Apollo mission .requires a position ··. ' fix ~ile still in a holding orbit. Before going into ·the translunar ·phase ·· I • sightings of earth fixed targets for navigation would be ab~ut the same yqu experienced in the ·ground light. Would this .b e practicable2 J ,, I i I ' Scientific Debriefing Cooper: -20- You 're going to have to be right on in .attitudes. to have to know exact~ what time it's going to occur. You 're g~ing I'd guess you have I about 20 to 30 seconds to do your ·actual sighting and you have to have a_good ' angle off to do it. • I 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. you're J.ucky. .spot it. If you look for it and know it is there and if Knowing where to look for it and no cl.ouds there, Y9U can (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 . I • • ./ 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. 1 You seemed to have seen our ·-lights as we expE:cted • . You .saw some objects on -the ground better than we expectedo t Sc i ent ific Debriefing ,,I -21- /' 1, , i (McKe e continued) you say why you saw such small items? ii, ,\ • !~ l '' 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. very surprised. I waoo 't , 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. the streets but the buildings were not very distinct. I could see 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 out i very distinctly. ' • • You .could estimate the number of houses and if a house was out individually away f'rom ahythirig else I guess against the right color background, the yard, I could discern individual buildings. of t h em with smoke 1 coming out of the chimney. very sandy blowy, dusty; Tibetan are.a . f'roz en over and some f'rozen solid. I saw a number There was snow on this upper I could see a lot of lakes some partial.ly.y The visibility was tremendous. see vehicles that ,:;t assumed were trucks. I could I could see them kicking up ' dust. ... :. . . Scientific Debriefing -22- (MIT Horizon) The purpose of these pictures is that we are teying to Dr. Peterson: find definite informa.tion."about the earth for Apollo guidance. This is of a group of four pictures taken in four_different yaw directions, one the sun. Is this maneuver an expensive and troublesome· thing to do'l Cooper: It takes control power; ·it takes control fuel, , it takes time. However, it is not real expensive as far as fuel. up. You have to stay power We debated back and forth about 't he most accurate wa;y of making sure we· . get these 90° points. We were a little concerned about accuracy and decided to stay powered up and utilized .the gyros ~o locate the 90° · positions. • But it does take that period of time of power ·to dr;Lve the automatic system; does take that fuel to move around• .,, Dr. Peterson: I noted you mention 25 hours 20 minutes. there is a hole in the transcript. · Co0per: A1; that ~ t 25 hours and 26 minutes. , ' I got those at 25 hours and some odd minutes when the moon was set in the west. It was right where ·we had plann~d to get it the first time. We rescheduled them later in the flight if we didn't get them at the original· 1 time. But I took them as planned initial.:cy,. Dr. Peterson: On two of those ~twas possible to locate. the moon. I I ~ Did those come out all right'l I not all of them. Bill .Armstrong: Yes, . these I• ·• ' ' are all of them. (Looking ·at p~ctures) Scientific Debriefing -23- Dr. Peterson: · There is a smudge in the middle of the window. have been accidently concealed. It could Since these negatives are on1¥ suitable microdensit9JI)etry there doesn't need· to be e:a,y discussion Qt the details ot • • their significance• . (Inf'ra.red Weather Photographic Experiment) I • Mr. D~: I would like to move on to m Weather photography. \ 1 ' Soules: This experiment went very well ~d we got the. information we · wanted. ' Thank you very JIDlch. 'Did you· have aeytrouble with ·the filter holder? ' ' None at all. - It . worked •very well. ' • And the lens opening of 5.6? Cooper: ·It was exactly-on ·what ·was marked on the 'magazineo Soules: · There are si; pictures at the end of the series and I can Vt - them. • Do you· have aey- idea ' where they could have been taken:'l (There was a lot of table discussion of pictures here) · This was a:f'ter,:the. Florida series. Scientific Debriefing Soules: You ma.de the remark that you were coming over A:t'rica. aey more information? ~ Cooper: -24- There was none in the tra.ns9ript. What base was this oni \ / I Bill: Wasn't one of them over the coastline? Cooper: Yes, I did one right on the . coast of A:t'rica. ~ight over the coastline. I got one coming Another ·one I got almost over ·the other coast; :toward Johannesburg; it was· ·an inland picture, almost the northern areao . ,' Soules: The last four are a ~stery. • Bill Armstrong: It, looks like you had about a quarter inch motion .on I'm sure. I didn't. · 1I ' was ·holding the camera just 1 Soules : , -Soules: We might , check the camera. What was the d o ~ t color of the ·earth over Baja California? I Cooper: I :found that the green showed up very little. • djstinct green that 'I The only really saw which showed up much was in the high Tibetan area. It. was a \right emerald green, by ·some o:f those lakes. ,copper sulphate mining area. It looked like a The browns ·of the. .Arabian Desert Sand show,e d : up quite distinct. • Th~. Sahara was :not quite so brown although i~ .did' have I -25- Scientific Debri efing ( Cooper continued) ·a brown look, cast . Everything predominantly had a. bluish .All. the :wat er, all the sea water, looked very very bright blue. And areas -we ,know 'were heavy toreat • '. The areas that a.re definitely brown you can Even the Salton Sea looked very blue. areas looked kind of blue-green. tell they a.re brown~ ' I Soules: I have a. question on the thunderstorms. Cooper: I could hear. it day or night and on both HF and UHF.. instantaneous . Cooper: UHF. It was . almost . As I woul~-- see the lightning and the clouds light up , I would get the static. • ·: Soules: Could you hear ·sta.tic'l : • ~ What i s the frequency band on HF'l HF i s 15 megacycles. The. static was louder in :the HF the.µ ·in tbe You could j ust hear ·it, it wasn lt high magnit ude. r Soules: • . Was there a difference in loudness between day and night'l Cooper: I think night side w.as considerably louder. thUDdersto~ ' were louder ,on ' night side. Of course I noted There were large _m asses of thunderstorms out to the east of Australia. " SoV,les: 1 ' 0 Did the flash come tram below the (?a.psule or •could you look off ~t ~ -. angle 'l / .. 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 remember just how far. I don•t 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.. \ • Soules: - the tropical' areas'l Cooper: • Did you see any long white bands of clouds along the east coast in 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. Soules: Over the oceans did you notewwide bands with perhaps clear ·area over it'l Number 10 picture is over the Arabian desert area.. , . r/ -27- Scientific Debriefing Cooper: No. I noticed several large cyclonics. I did not notice any very I disti nct sharp bands. However I ~id notice tropical thunder~torms. • Near I -the Solomon Island Areas there were a lot of low streets and ridges ot smaller cumulus clouds. There were little rows of them. ' . ; /. I .I f'~. \ . fcient~.f'ic Debriefing -28'·i SoU::.es : Was the horizon always ·a sharp line? Cooper: Yes, day and 'night the hqrizon was sharp. In the day you have this bright I I blue 'bund around it. Soules: Some photos show the horizon seemed fuzzy. Cooper: In the Himalayas on a couple of occasions where the horizon was rough due to the mountains, the horizon was ·still very distinct. Squles: Did you se-e the moon at the time of occultation? Cooper: Yes, several times. '• I was sorry I d.i;d not get picture·s. ... Soules.: ' Did you see a halo around the moon? Cooper: I saw no sign of a halo. It was quite sharp. Soules: Did you ever see a slight flash? I Did the moon's color chang~ at all as it went through the atmosphere? 1 Cooper: No. I was looking for this too. I was disappointed in the moon scenes .. ·r didn't see anything di'stinctive at all. Soules: I made a sketch of haze layer. Would you take a look· at 'i t and tell me what you think? Voas: Gordo, would .you draw it on the board? (Period demonstrating on blackboard of horizon, haze, etc.) Cooper: This is the earth with a sharp horizon on the earth. level was always under me separated from the horizon. line. The lower haze This was not a real distinct It was a little more distinct and it appeared to be the same color as if it were a cloud and as the stars would pass down through it y:ou could track a fairly • high order of magnitude of star and you could track it ,down thro~gh haze and _it '; would appear real bright as it came down through it. Soules: :About what magnitur could you see? ',,. II I \ I ~ [ 1cienti fi c Debriefing l ooper: -29I\ The stars in the Big Dipper could just be seen. 1'!1th the bo.ttom star sinking i~ ., I noted the Big Dipper ·~ I l~ down into it. If, 1; ,.11 t1 The top of the layer would be bow ;:nany degrees above the horizon? Soules: i . • ' ,, ) Ooo:per: I figured it was about six or seven degrees. rl l (Long period of sketching.) Peterson: . I Would you estimate any appraisal in terms of stellar magnitude? You explai:c.ed that the fifth magnitudes could be seen, did the weaker =- stars go out • I in that area? ' (Still illustrating.) Note: During this period when ,900:per wa..s talking and sketching on the board, the recorded comments are meaningless. Cooper: Dr. Voa.s: I can't recall a single ti.me at night but what I saw the haze leyer. I described the earth as. being d.a.I:k. Which is darker, the earth or the 11ttl.e band of sky? Cooper: When there was no moon the earth was darker. light from the sky. ,· shinier black. Dr. Voa.s: Cooper: It is a difference in two different blacks. The horizon is very wel~ defined? It is actually a different black. There is a · distinct line of horizon This is in complete night. When the moon comes up the earth becomes lighter as the moon shines on it? Cooper: It shows up distinctly,' especially when there are c;:1.ouds. Soules: Here is a picture that Wally took. Soules: . . Does that look like a haze band on the •. • . horizon? O'Keefe: The sky · is a The earth is a du.11 black. and the earth is darker. Dr. Voa.s: In general. there was more When was that picture taken? . Is that too high? - -30Scienti f ic Debriefing I (' 'i f oules: You saw something over South America? ,! l I fooper: Yes, there is this other higher level I saw over South America. l ~--------- ptanley Soules: Did you see different cloud layers at night? ' ~ooper: Only i:t there was moonlight and if there were towns or cities below them. On several occasions I could see reflected light particularly through stratus type clouds. Soules: You could distinguish clouds. Does the earth appear as blue to your eye , , as it does in the photos? Cooper: Yes. Soules: What is the color of the· twilight zone? Cooper: It is a baby blue~ Soules: Did you see any meteor trails? Cooper: No~ Soules: Did you see ·a lot of sun? C<:> Oper : I Sure did • I T.TCIIY' "....... l't to tell you I did'. Soules: Was there any evidence of a corona? Cooper: No. The overall color is pretty blue. It is a pure~ pure blue, very, very_ bright. ., Cooper: ' In fact, the sun appeared to be like the moon 'does i'rom the earth. But up there It doesn't look the same It is a very arc-like color, bluish white. ! I ,, it is just a glob and it is very very whitish bri_gb.t. Question: I , Very bri ght. You know down here there are all those rays around it. color. I ' '' - What about the looks of the ds.y slcy? The ds.y slcy just is not as dark as the nie,:it slcy. It is black and dark but not as dark as the night sky. You can see the brighter .stars on the day side when you are away from the sun and neither it nor the earth shine are coming in the window. Give yourself a few seconds to get dark adapted and you can see the brighter· ' stars. They };lave to be fairly ~right to see them. On·the order of '3rd magnitl.lde. I -31- ;-, pcientj f ie Debriefing 1~ l .pr. Voe.s : ,, The day sides get a lot lighter, at night they are about the same i fia.rknes s as the inside of the spacecra.f't. The night sky and the day sky is about the same as the difference between Cooper: I . ~ jet black and a dark gray . . (It is about the same difference b_e tween the night \ , sky and the day sky.) .. ' It is a sorter kind of dark during the day. Not nearly as dark as the night sky. Dr. Voe.a : Is it a smooth overall gray on the window? Do you see any chance at a.l.l that the grayness you noted could be minute amounts of scattered light from fog onthe window? Cooper: I don't believe . so, Bob, because immediately when ·you got a faint amount of obli que llght on the window it immediately looked like it was iced- over. All you had to do was get just a faint amount on it and it appeared to be just likeI a canopy frozen over. O'Keefe : Was this scattered light 1n the window or not? I hoped you could see,, some ki nd of a pattern. Cooper: That• s what I •m saying. When you have any kind of scattered light on the window, when the window was in any kind of an attitude (demonstrated) say this is . • the window and out here is . the sun, any time the window was moved around where . • there was any kind' of light shining on the window - just a faint amount of it . would completely obliterate the vision through the window. IFR. There was just no looking through the window. I just went completely Of course, the earth gives off an awful lot of light, and you can't see anything as long as the earth i s shining in the window. Any time the sun was back here fmd I was faced away from the earth, regardless of attitude, the sky appeared to be a smooth gray. O'Keef e : You could see the griton\ the window? • Cooper : You could see the light actually impinging on 'the Wind.ow. • the scum all over the inside of"the outside ~e. You could see I· ( . -32- fcienti f ic Debriefing ' I I ~'Keefe : Somevlhat of a pattern? •i¢,ooper: That's right. A pattern over the outside of th~ window as well as the I • scum on the inside; l (· ()'Keefe: It this had 'been scattered light you would have had this pattern? •. Cooper: That's right • . (Dim Light _photograpbs.) . Presentation of Dim Light Phenomena.: Day: 1 Roach: Roach, 0'Keefe, Huell. You had above this haze layer another layer. •Would you sketch that'l (Illustration.) • Cooper: This one time I did have it. I am almost certain this was .about 24 hours I and 30 minutes over South America. , I was facing to the east and was on dri:f't, I think. I was_looking to the east, northeast area. 0'Keefe: Reference was on page 26. Cooper: That was the luminous activity on page 37. I was in ful1 dri:f't. "Righi? now I can .make ou1; a lot of luminous activities in an easterly direction." on a 05 13 40. The Milky Way was quite distinct. America) I couldn't make out on this layer. / ' ' This was at 05 11 34 and This particular time (over South ' I wouldn't say it was mu~ like a. layer. • It wasn't distinct and it didn't last long; but it was higher than I was. It wasn't / in the vicinity of the horizon and was not well defined. Roach: More like a patch? Cooper: Smoother. Roach: You didn't feel this bad' a discrete shape? Cooper: It was very indistinct 1n· shape. It was a good sized area. • It was a faint glow with a reddish brown ; . cast. · Roa.ch: Because of your altitude or what'l . : I . , - - - . -~--~ - - ~ - ~ - - - _ _ _ ; · . . . . . . . 1 - 1 . - - -33- Scientifi c Debriefing l ' . l' Cooper: It wasn't so distinctive as to move back on to it. 1, 'l • '4,nd definitely lighter than the sky. It was very faint It was picking up some light of.•some type, '"" -'j t was light in contrast to the sky • • 'ick Day : C\'poper: Could you see this better out ot the corner of your eye? Yes. Sort of that type of thing. I'm almost certain· that this was over South America, just coming up on ·to the northeastern part of South America. It was around 50 degrees West and about zero degrees of latitude. Roach: This reminds me of what Mr. Schirra saw off Madagascar. Cooper: He saw .it off North Africa. defined. I-twas rather diffused but not covering the whole earth. Roach: It seemed to be ·quite extensive but not .well Could you tell us what happens when you pass from day into night, around twilight? . We are interested in horizon effect after sunset • . ' \ Cooper: (Cooper draws some more pict~es.) You never tire of looking at the sunsets. As the sunI begins to get down towards the horizon it is very well defined and not diffused as it is 'when looking through the atmosphere, and it is quite difficult to look at. It is quite white and as i t gets on down to where the sun begins to impinge on the horizon line it does give ·a spreading effect. The sky is getting quite dark here and you get the 1 impression of blackness up here. I (Illustrating.) . The layer is bright orange · color and light spreading out in this direption ••• As the sun begins to go down it is replaced by this' bright gold orange. It extends out ·for some way. The sun It defines the horizon line fairly well at this ·time. ' does begin to get this flattened effect. Roach: What was it'·s maximum flattening? Cooper: I never got too much. . \ It appears to get down part way below the horizon /' n f . Scientific Debriefing ! I ;._ ~d _spread. j _. -34- It doesn't take long. As it goes on down you still have this orange I• • • fight on the horizon and this area is all considerably ligliter althou~ black is .,, goming on down. You do · ge~· glow up off it. You could actu~ sWing away and tell l light w ere tlle sun ll&d set a number of seconds after. :,? It is not ray-like. It /, is hard to describe. ~e sky area: is lighter but there are not any rays. , \ Note: At this time there was a general discussion of the night sky ,i mmediately af'ter sunset. The transcript is too incomplete in this region to give a recorded • account of this discussion. It appears that after describing the sunset and the airglow layer someone Ast. Cooper an additional glow extending vertical above the i position on the horizon 'Where sunset occurred. Obviously reference was being I made to observation of the Zodiacal light. Cooper: That' s right. After this effect disappears ( glow of sunset) and you • think you're on complete darkness, I would guess on the order a minute after I sunset, you get this other. very far along. I gue.ss two different times I saw faint glow but not ., It lfS.S more on the order of 3 to 4 degrees farther on -------•and a fainter order . ., Roach : Did you 'notice this was cone shaped? Cooper: A little bit cone shaped. Roach : Did you happen to sweep across it that way? Cooper: It was a minute or so prior to sunrise and I moved back across and about J ' ' the time I got back the sun was there. Roach: Did it seem to be confined in your Window'l Cooper : Yes. Roach: Was this jus~ before sunrise? Cooper: The sun is . getting ready to come up and at' this particular time I got 0 The bright blue -band grew wider as you moved away. this glow prior to getting a blue band and in a few seconds the blue widens and ' I . widens. , ... '. . -35- §~ientif ic Debriefing Rpach: Is 'this :phenomenon very close to the sun'? Cpoper: I had the feeling that this was just a glow off the su.µ._ It was not • 1: ' ·'i 7,1.', ~P bri©J.t ~ :1 as the Millcy Way. : Mercer: Was it tipped to the right or le:f't of sunriseZ C~oper: I was sitting tipped myself and don't rememb~r vb.ich way it was. l I have the imp.ression it was not vertical. Dr. Voas : It appears the red and gold you• described at sunset does not occur at dawn . . I Cooper : Sunset is more of a golden orange. Dr. Voas : Did you notice any of the flattening as the sun rose? Cooper: Not as much) but you do get a little bit. Roach : Going back to the time just preceding retro, were you constantly on stellar observat ion before the dawn? Cooper: Yes. ,( Were you able to follow any stars'? . ... With the sun to my back, the first thing I got -was the moon glow.. and through the cloud below I got Shanghai. The first •indication· you get of the sun going up behind you is the lightening of the clouds underneath and you note the clouds getting iighter and lighter and you can still see the stars. As you \ reach a certain point., your window gets enough light - your window appears 'c ompletely frosted over. Roach : What star were you using? , Cooper: I was using Betelgeuse and tracking on.~ up from that to Sirius and Procyo~ and then I had a bS-l7ren area. the last . clouds.. . Then I believe Castor and Pollux and Corvus was I couldn't pick up Antares. By this time I -was getting good light on The stars don't give ·you much yaw determination. You can si there for a long t ime' and if 'you hold rates . very close. to zero you can get a fairly good indicati on, but it is a lengthy process when you are determining yaw by seeing the ' ·-- ·movement ' of stars. ·-~...,.. --- - . - .·--- ' - -~ - ~ f . 1 '1 ~ i' I I .S~ientific Debriefing -36l\ ; . ~iach: ' From that standpoint, is it better to retro in the da.yl~ft? ~ cqpper: . You could probably do .it at night, but it is preferabl~;- to do it in the day. , Njte: ' ~'he next few comments are not interpretable, but 1t appe,-.rs eom one raised ~ . a ~question about the blue horizon band visible during daylight, This is ·predominantly blue· and if you have land masses or things that . ' you know are not blue - - - but this is about a two degrees thick band. It isn't Co'pper: , ' quite as thick as the band underneath - - - the last layer at night is thicker I 1 . ' l . than this blue band and it is a brilliant blue. Roach: Then, is there some structure above the blue layer? Cooper: I never could see pattern structure above that. This is any time you have earth shine. It is really not black. This is not a real sharply defined - - - There is a little blue gray going thru this area here. The overall band is real' bright pale bluw and just faintly diffuse on this side. (Explanation is made using a sketch at the blackboard.) Question: Cooper: Is it diffuse on the upper side? It is not just a real sharp line or two different distinct colors. It does diffuse very slightly,. Question: .How wide is that band in angle? It is about 11iwo degrees. ,, Cooper: Huch: I understand it gave a little problem in roll and yaw. .,. You said just as the sun was s inking. _ Cooper:. That's right •. Tb.is is where I could tell where the sun had been. I moved back to t hat and I put the gyros to free and went into the automatic mode. , (Again using sketch.) Huch: , Wi th reference .to the sunset, do you estimate the time when the Zodiacal light ' sequence was started? -:---