During the final and longest flight of Project Mercury, Mercury-Atlas 9 mission (MA-9) Faith 7 Pilot L. Gordon Cooper Jr. describes the brilliant blue of sunrise beneath the haze layer of the Earth’s atmosphere. As he approaches sunrise, he describes small, luminous, brilliant white particles drifting away from the spacecraft. Cooper describes observing “fireflies” after deploying beacons, which are spherical mission-related equipment with xenon strobe lights.
| Date Taken: | 05.15.1963 |
| Date Posted: | 05.22.2026 07:30 |
| Category: | Briefings |
| Video ID: | 1007876 |
| VIRIN: | 630515-D-D0360-9975 |
| Filename: | DOD_111721737 |
| Length: | 00:08:14 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Downloads: | 3 |
| High-Res. Downloads: | 3 |
This work, NASA-UAP-D011, Mercury Atlas 9 Audio Excerpt, May 15, 1963, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.