So there I was…yesterday in Mt. Shasta, enjoying a frosty adult beverage. Watched CHP H-16 extricate an injuired hiker from the MTN. and transport to town. Then a spot in the sky caught my eye. On the NW shoulder of Mt. Shasta, appeared to not be moving laterally. Based on the scale of the mountain it was tough to guage the size of the object. Wrote it off as a weather ballon.
Curiosity got the best of me. Using flight radar and the old Google… Here’s what I found.
It was NOT a weather ballon! Infact it was a newer technology still in development. HBAL271 was the identifier. Launched from somewhere in the Pacific ocean, traveling on the edge of the stratosphere, packing with it technology acting as a mobile cellular and data relay from ground based towers.
Owned by “LOON”, https://loon.co/technology/which is owned by “X”( Google project technology),owned by “Alphabet”, ALL owned by GOOGLE.
Apparently the project launches or can launch from mobile lainchers every 30 minutes, creating a network of continuous service in a particular area that may not have cell or data service. Prooved successfully in Puerto Rico after the hurricane, providing service replacement from the balloons to 60%of users after infrastructure was destroyed.
All that long winded info…think of fires in areas without service. Me’s thinks communications could benefit.