"Would you like to fly in my beautiful balloon?" - The 5th Dimension, 1967
That was the musical question The 5th Dimension asked in 1967 in its hit "Up, Up and Away" and almost 50 years later the answer is a resounding "yes" as we may be looking at balloon-powered Internet connections all over the world due to Google's Project Loon Balloon. The solar-powered balloon has completed its first trip around the world, taking just 22 days to do so.
For those unfamiliar with Project Loon, Google's site dedicated to it explains the rationale of the well-traveled balloon best:
Many of us think of the Internet as a global community. But two-thirds of the world's population does not yet have Internet access. Project Loon is a network of balloons traveling on the edge of space, designed to connect people in rural and remote areas, help fill coverage gaps, and bring people back online after disasters.
One of those balloons recently completed a journey around the world and actually beat the company's expectations by circling the globe (a total distance of more than 31,000 miles) in just 22 days after Google estimated the trip would take 33 days. Commercial airlines should run so efficiently.
The data being collected centers around determining wind speeds and weather conditions and getting a handle on the types of overall conditions balloons such as this might need to handle as Google attempts to launch thousands of these Internet-transmitting balloons to the most remote locations on the planet in an effort to bring the Web to all.
Google's daily blog on all things Project Loon explained some of the findings from this most recent trip.
One of our balloons has had quite a journey over the past few weeks. It did a lap around the world in 22 days, and has just clocked the project's 500,000th kilometer as it begins its second lap. It enjoyed a few loop-de-loops over the Pacific Ocean before heading east on the winds toward Chile and Argentina, and then made its way back around near Australia and New Zealand. Along the way, it caught a ride on the Roaring Forties - strong west-to-east winds in the Southern Hemisphere that act like an autobahn in the sky, where our balloons can quickly zoom over oceans to get to where people actually need them.
Google has yet to install cameras on the Loon Balloons but has stated they are examining that possibility. No timetable has been set for the completion of Project Loon.
