On Thursday as most of the little town
of Harrah, Washington slept a balloon owned by Internet giant Google
feel from the sky. On its way down the balloon caught some power
lines and knocking out service to several residence including a mint
farm where that become the its final resting spot. The balloon was
part of Google's
'project loon' that was launched almost a year ago to provide
rural areas with Internet access.
According to a spokesman for Pacific
Power Bob Gravely when an employee of local utility company arrived
at the scene he reported “what appeared to be a weather balloon
with blinking lights entangled in the power lines off Harrah Road,”
On the day before the crash a
spokesperson from Google informed the FAA (federal aviation
administration) that the balloon was descending on the town. The
early warning gave the FAA plenty of time to reroute any air traffic
around the area eliminating any further disasters that could have
arisen.
When the project was first launched it
Google set 30 of these balloons loose to fly 12 miles above New
Zealand. In that initial test area showed some promising success at
providing 3g wireless service. In the months following Google has
expanded to other areas around the world including the small town of
Harrah in Eastern Washington State.
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