Google’s Internet Balloons Are Staying Aloft Longer Than Anyone Expected

December 14th, 2014

Via: The Verge:

When Google announced Project Loon in June of last year many balloon experts were skeptical of its chances. The stated goal was that the balloons that would last 100 days or more in the air, but nobody was routinely getting anywhere near that kind of longevity. Much larger NASA balloons typically stayed in flight for less than 60 days. Google was aiming to nearly double that, and at a much lower cost. “Absolutely impossible—just talk to anybody in the scientific community,” veteran balloonist Per Lindstrand told Wired. “Even three weeks is very rare.”

Today, Google is announcing a number of achievements, the most important of which it’s dubbed The Marathoner, a balloon launched in July from New Zealand that came back to Earth in Chile 134 days later. “When we started out, 10 days was an achievement. Then we hit 30, then 70 and now it is commonplace for us to get into the 100 day realm,” said Mahesh Krishnaswamy, who leads Project Loon’s manufacturing efforts.

More: Google Partnering with France’s Space Agency

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