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SL ideal for Google’s Project, says Foriegn Policy magazine
View(s):The U.S.-based Foreign Policy (FP) magazine in an article, “Can Google’s Fleet of High-Altitude Balloons Bring the Internet to the World’s Unconnected?”, said that Sri Lanka is an ideal candidate for the project for demographic and geographic reasons.
However, the magazine also quoted the founder of High Altitude Science and a former International Space Station flight controller, Joseph Maydell, who said that they do not know if the project is going to be a success or not.
“They (the balloons) have to be lightweight, they have to be strong, and they have to be able to withstand a huge amount of UV radiation,” Maydell said to FP. “They have to fly for over 100 days; the challenge will be to do it consistently. They are working on a process to find the right materials. One of the biggest challenges is launching a balloon with zero leaks. The challenge is being able to do it repeatedly and reliably.”
The site manager of NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility, in Palestine, Texas, has told FP that Google is trying to see if they can make it work. “If they can’t, I’m sure somebody else will make it happen,” he said.