Approximately one hour and 41 minutes into the final and longest flight of Project Mercury, Mercury-Atlas 9 mission (MA-9) Faith 7 Pilot L. Gordon Cooper Jr. notes that he sees “John’s fireflies,” referring to John Glenn’s term from the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission. NASA later determined that the “fireflies” are attributable to frozen condensation separating from the spacecraft body. The white, green-hued appearance of this phenomenon results from sunlight reflecting off frozen condensation.
Date Taken:
05.15.1963
Date Posted:
05.22.2026 07:30
Category:
Briefings
Video ID:
1007874
VIRIN:
630515-D-D0360-4757
Filename:
DOD_111721711
Length:
00:03:00
Location:
(UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)
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This work, NASA-UAP-D010, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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