Google balloon project aims to bring internet to remote parts of the world

This is an automatic summary, original reduced by 71%.

It looks like the world's nerdiest fashion runway, but it's actually a giant flatbed scanner - nicknamed Billie Jean - used to analyze structural damage to the high-altitude Project Loon balloons Google wants to use to deliver internet service to remote parts of the world.

Google invited members of the media to the usually secretive lab to brag about advances the company has made in the development of its internet balloons.

Today, the long-haired, bearded engineer with a pierced septum is dressed in a bright pink suit, matching shoes and a floral tie as he describes the various stages of testing each balloon goes through before being packed into a MOAC, which stands for Mother Of All Crates.

The 12-meter helium-filled balloons fly in the stratosphere at altitudes of between 18km and 25km - twice as high as planes - and each balloon can provide connectivity to an area of around 40km in diameter using LTE wireless communications.

The original navigation plan involved creating rings of balloons sailing around the globe, delivering internet service when they were over a target region.

X shuttered a sister project to Loon that used solar-powered drones instead of balloons earlier this year.

Summary Source | FAQ | Theory | Feedback | Top five keywords: balloon^#1 service^#2 internet^#3 deliver^#4 Google^#5

Post found in /r/technology, /r/TheColorIsBlue and /r/GUARDIANauto.

NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.