Schirra saw particles from the capsule
NASA, Low Earth Orbit, 1962.
Schirra's lathe-shavings comparison is wonderfully specific. It makes the particles sound physical rather than ghostly. Good description is often the first step toward a mundane explanation.
From the file
I have the little white objects that seem to come from the capsule itself and drift off. The white object actually looked like it came toward me, but it wasn't.
Connections
- Mercury fireflies became a science problem strong linkscientific debriefings collected the same Mercury particle issue
- Cooper watched John Glenn’s fireflies strong linkPart of the same incident packet or narrow file set.