Google's Project Loon Aims to Bring Internet to Remote Places like Brazil's Amazonia
Just in case you find yourself exploring the Amazon rainforest in Brazil and you want to post a cool picture of a tropical bird on Instagram or Facebook, or take a safari-like selfie, Tweet about how awesome you are on your journey, or just simply check your email - chances are, you will be able to, according to Google.
While these silly, first world problems sound obnoxious, the Internet is indeed a vital tool, yet "two-thirds of the world's population does not yet have Internet access."
To help fill this void, Google launched Project Loon,"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," according to Gigaom.
"The Project Loon pilot test began in June 2013 on the 40th parallel south. Thirty balloons, launched from New Zealand's South Island, beamed Internet to a small group of pilot testers," Google explains on its Project Loon website."The experience of these pilot testers is now being used to refine the technology and shape the next phase of Project Loon."
According to Brazil's National Space Research Institute, also known as Inpe, the country is looking at the feasibility of using the balloons to extend the Internet into remote and isolated regions, such as Amazonia.
Financially, the balloons are more cost-effective while being eco-friendly, but not everyone is convinced.
"That (Google's Project Loon) would be relevant if you were in the Amazon for example, that would be a good idea to get the Internet into the Amazon rainforest - that is still really early in the testing phase," 'Green' Google alternative, Ecosia founder, Christian Kroll told the Latin Post. "Personally, I think we should care more about saving the Amazon rainforest than bringing the Internet to it."
Two weeks ago, Inpe ran a test in São Paulo state, launching a balloon, equipped with four transmitters, that weighs about 33 pounds at an altitude of 787 feet. The balloon was able to broadcast "an omni-directional Internet signal" from 31 miles away.
In a statement, Inpe noted that: "With the balloon, broadband communication using radio frequencies reaches a bigger coverage area in comparison with conventional towers."
"Google's floating network in sky - Project Loon - won't just be mobile, following the stratospheric wind currents; it will be the very definition of an evolving network with new transmitters launched into the sky every 100 days," Gigaom reports.
Each Loon balloon is designed to stay in the air for three trips around the globe.
"One hundred days may not sound like much, but keep in mind that while in the air these balloons will be on their own 12 miles above the Earth, floating over oceans and even war zones - you can't just send a guy in a hard-hat up to fix a broken antenna," Gigaom added, "As Loon's balloon manufacturing manager Pam Desrochers explained in the video, the constant replacement cycle will ensure that Google has the most up-to-date technology in the air, but it will also help prevent Loon from losing its balloons to leaks."
There are also temperature changes and pressure for the balloons to contend with as the "Loon will be 'steering' the balloons in the stratospheric winds by pumping air in and out of them creating additional stresses."
Comparable to a "rubber band," when over-stretched or frozen it can break.
"For Loon's initial tests in New Zealand, Google used a polyethylene film in its balloons made by South Dakota plastics company Raven Industries," Gigaom added, "but Google now appears to be testing all manner of materials, subjecting them to durability, temperature and leak tests."
Pam, one of Loon's balloon manufacturing experts, describes both the challenge of making balloon envelopes that last 100 days, and also the diagnostic tests the team uses to get closer to that goal. Check it out: