Correlation of Individual Cosmic Ray Nuclei With the Observation of Light Flashes By Apollo Astronauts

A nuclear emulsion detector known as the Apollo Light Flash Moving Emulsion Detector (ALFMED) was designed: 1) to record tracks of primary cosmic rays; 2) to provide time-of-passage information via a relative plate translation technique; 3) to provide particle trajectory information; and, 4) to fit into a masklike device that could be located about the head and eyes of an astronaut. An ALFMED device was worn by an astronaut observing light flashes for 60 minutes on each of the last two Apollo missions. During the Apollo 17 experiment seventeen separate flashes were reported by the observer. With one-third of the total plate area completely analyzed, two definite correlations have been found between Z > 8 cosmic ray nuclei traversing an eye and the reports of visual sensations.