google's project loon internet balloon completes first 500,000 km journey

google’s project loon internet balloon completes 500,000 km journey
all images courtesy google loon

lapping around the world in 22 days, google’s ‘project loon’ – a network of balloons traveling on the edge of space – has clocked its 500,000th kilometer. after having a successful journey, the balloon-powered internet system will begin its second lap, where it will traverse over the pacific ocean before heading east on the winds toward chile and argentina, then making its way back around near australia and new zealand.

‘since last june, we’ve been using the wind data we’ve collected during flights to refine our prediction models and are now able to forecast balloon trajectories twice as far in advance,’ says the google loon team. ‘our pump that moves air in or out of the balloon has become three times more efficient, making it possible to change altitudes more rapidly to quickly catch winds going in different directions.’

‘there were times, for example, when this balloon could have been pulled into the polar vortex – large, powerful wind currents that whip around in a circle near the stratosphere in the polar region – but these improvements enabled us to maneuver around it and stay on course,’ they add.

the loon balloon ‘ibis-167’ flightpath provides an illustration of the wind patterns in the stratosphere this time of year. compare the first week of it’s journey with the distance it covered in week three: as it rounded antarctica, it hitched a ride on ‘the roaring forties’ — strong west-to-east winds in the southern hemisphere that act like an autobahn in the sky, allowing the balloons to quickly zoom over oceans.

in order to get the in-the-air experience required for fast technological improvement, loon balloons have flown over 500,000 kilometers since the start of the project, through wind speeds ranging from 2 knots to 75 knots, during all four seasons of the year.

earlier balloon designs used just one solar panel pointed up toward the sky. after further development, two diagonally facing panels were incorporated, demonstrating the potential to capture more sunlight at latitudes close to the poles. the modification allowed for more power with less weight, providing an extended battery charge for a longer period of time.

the loon team monitors the health of each balloon in comodoro rivadavia in southern argentina