During his orbital flight in February, 1962, Joh Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, observed numerous bright particles that were apparently travelling along with his capsule, Friendship 7. The mystery of the “fireflies” was resolved in May of the same year on the next Mercury mission, Aurora 7, with astronaut Scott Carpenter on board.  Scot Carpenter also saw the fireflies, or snowflakes, as he called them, and was able to determine Their origin - they were tiny bits of frost from the side of the spacecraft. As the spacecraft passed from the night side to daylight condensation formed on the outside of the spacecraft and then froze creating a layer of frost. As the spacecraft once again came into daylight the frost began to flake off and float around the capsule. The bright sunlight illuminated the flakes which made them appear “luminescent.”

Our high quality giclee prints are produced on heavy weight, acid-free, archival matte stock with inks that have lightfastness ratings of 150+ years when displayed properly.  Each print is inspected and signed by the artist.