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Comments on news posted 2013-08-22 10:05:25: Last month Google unveiled Google Loon, the latest in a long line of similar projects that will use hot air balloons to deliver broadband and wireless services to under-served or emergency prone areas. ..


workablob
join:2004-06-09
Houston, TX

workablob

Member

OK, I'll be first

I really want this to work but it just seems kind of Rube Goldberg to me.

Blob

meeeeeeeeee
join:2003-07-13
Newburgh, NY

meeeeeeeeee

Member

Re: OK, I'll be first

said by workablob:

I really want this to work but it just seems kind of Rube Goldberg to me.
Blob

The Rube Goldberg machines I've seen all DID what they were designed to do, they just went about it in a unique and interesting way.

skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

1 recommendation

skeechan

Premium Member

It will be just another Google beta project

Like most everything Google, it is beta and dead before it starts.
Gami00
join:2010-03-11
Mississauga, ON

Gami00

Member

Re: It will be just another Google beta project

i'm not sure why that matters?

you still need testers during a beta phase..
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

Member

Re: It will be just another Google beta project

Balloon internet has been discussed for YEARS and yet still isn't anything. Google is trying to do something on unlicensed spectrum, and are now saying it doesn't work in urban areas. And the better thing is what happens when the balloon moves away from you? you lose Internet, not a great project but an alpha project used to blow money.
TheRogueX
join:2003-03-26
Springfield, MO

TheRogueX

Member

Re: It will be just another Google beta project

Technology takes time to develop, you know. And this isn't a project 'to blow money,' it's just an early step in a developing technology. Google may seem to be 'wasting money,' but they're developing patents for equipment and techniques that will be used in new tech, and that will make them much more money in return.

skeechan
Ai Otsukaholic
Premium Member
join:2012-01-26
AA169|170

skeechan to Gami00

Premium Member

to Gami00
It means there is nothing to get excited about.

norbert26
Premium Member
join:2010-08-10
Warwick, RI

norbert26

Premium Member

Hot Air Balloons ?

OK how do you replace the hot air in these balloons 12 miles up sounds like a lot of balloons need to be going up and down. I can't see this being stable except for an emergency like a tornado struck area.
ptb42
join:2002-09-30
USA

ptb42

Member

Re: Hot Air Balloons ?

These aren't hot air balloons. I don't know where Karl got that idea.

»www.google.com/loon/how/ ··· envelope

The balloon envelope is the name for the inflatable part of the balloon. Project Loon's balloon envelopes are made from sheets of polyethylene plastic and stand fifteen meters wide by twelve meters tall when fully inflated. They are specially constructed for use in superpressure balloons, which are longer-lasting than weather balloons because they can withstand higher pressure from the air inside when the balloons reach float altitude. When a balloon is ready to be taken out of service, gas is released from the envelope to bring the balloon down in a controlled descent. In the unlikely event a balloon drops too quickly, we deploy the parachute attached to the top of the envelope.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt to norbert26

Premium Member

to norbert26
The idea would be having a large number of them circling the globe a 10-12 miles high so you are always in view of a number of them. lower latency and cheaper per flight then LEO satellite. each "loon" would stay up for a few week or months at a time, and should have a fairly controllable reentry to reuse most of the elements.
Very much like Blimpband with much smaller blimps
dra6o0n
join:2011-08-15
Mississauga, ON

dra6o0n

Member

Re: Hot Air Balloons ?

They also could double as 'shade' during the summer time where the sunlight can be too hot to handle. Lets have a swarm of balloons sit above us, soaking in the UV rays and the likes so our children doesn't have to. LOL!
afn06011
join:2012-10-15
Florida

afn06011

Member

Helium shortages

Helium shortages are already an issue.

And I have to wonder how such a system would survive the kind of rough thunderstorms, almost daily during the summer, we get here in Florida.
slckusr
Premium Member
join:2003-03-17
Greenville, SC

slckusr

Premium Member

Re: Helium shortages

said by afn06011:

Helium shortages are already an issue.

And I have to wonder how such a system would survive the kind of rough thunderstorms, almost daily during the summer, we get here in Florida.

Airplanes already fly "above" the weather, and this system will be higher than that, so i assume it would work fine. You might however run into some signal degradation as the signal passes through those storms. (like satellite tv)

workablob
join:2004-06-09
Houston, TX

workablob

Member

Re: Helium shortages

Are there storms at 12 miles up?

Blob

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: Helium shortages

I think it's pretty consistant and directional what little air there is.
probably -50-60º and not enough oxygen to burn anything.

workablob
join:2004-06-09
Houston, TX

workablob

Member

Re: Helium shortages

said by tshirt:

I think it's pretty consistant and directional what little air there is.
probably -50-60º and not enough oxygen to burn anything.

I only asked because previous posts mentioned storms as an issue and I did not know there where storms at that altitude.

Thanks,

Blob

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: Helium shortages

I think that by 60k feet the atmosphere would be less than 10% of ground level so a 200mph wind would be less than a 20 mph breeze but at 50º below, you wouldn't be enjoying it much for long.
TheRogueX
join:2003-03-26
Springfield, MO

TheRogueX to workablob

Member

to workablob
The storms would cause signal issues, they wouldn't directly affect the balloon itself.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt to afn06011

Premium Member

to afn06011
said by afn06011:

Helium shortages are already an issue.

We can and SHOULD "make" more, while we are using natural gas at such a high rate.
NG at the wellhead is 5% or so helium, a bunch of CO2, which we SHOULD be reinjecting, and assorted minor gases, before we get the stuff we burn or convert into other substances
dra6o0n
join:2011-08-15
Mississauga, ON

dra6o0n

Member

Re: Helium shortages

It's actually safer for it to be up there, in the case of the gas bursts, it'd be miles above your head and the balloon itself would release all the gas before it is engulfed in flames... If it does get hot enough to cause the gas to combust in the first place, which it won't.

Unless one of these balloons flies into a power plant or something.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt

Premium Member

Re: Helium shortages

Once it's up Hydrogen would be a better choice, cheaper and half the weight/twice the lift of He. the trouble is what happens on a bad fill or launch accident.

linicx
Caveat Emptor
Premium Member
join:2002-12-03
United State

linicx

Premium Member

Interesting prospect

It is one more device the non-government sanctioned, low-class snoop can use to dig, collect, share, and sell your data worldwide.

Most businesses do the same thing. The difference is Google is blatant about what they do, and the high price they put on your head and that of your family.