The Mercury fireflies

Mercury astronauts repeatedly described small luminous particles around their capsules. The later debriefs treat the famous fireflies as a real observation with a mostly physical, spacecraft-centered explanation.

1. Cooper watched John Glenn’s fireflies NASA, Low Earth Orbit, 1963.
2. The fireflies reappear at sunrise NASA, Low Earth Orbit, 1963.
3. Schirra saw particles from the capsule NASA, Low Earth Orbit, 1962.
4. Mercury fireflies became a science problem NASA, 1962.