unforum

[Euchre]

As things are stated now, no clues - just those conditions already stated.
Someone from DARPA goes out on the given date and time, launches the balloon, attends to the location for the day, then removes the balloon. They are described as being 'readily accessible' and visible from 'nearby roads', which implies that they are in public locations proximal to public right of way. Basically somebody ought to see them. The real challenge as I see it (more especially if this does not become well publicized) is that whomever observes them in the 6 hrs they are up has means to measure their location with suitable accuracy and thus report it to a group. I seriously doubt any one person could reasonably scour the US in 11 hrs total for all possible locations.

[Rogi Ocnorb]

I'm seeing some buzz that some teams are actually considering a coordinated 6-hour drive on the target date.
Just thought I'd toss some numbers out there about that sort of thinking.

[ouroboros]

[Euchre]

The relatively vast margin of error would allow for two methods, I think:

1. Manual orienteering. In theory this should be possible with a greater accuracy than that, but when one is in a hurry it may not be.

2. Satellite imagery. If one can find a rapidly updated satellite image source online, it might not have very accurate coordinates applied to it. I doubt this would be the only method possible, but I think one of the points of this exercise is to see how many forms of information gathering one can use to achieve the goal.

[catherwood]

could the ~1 mile margin of error be due to the drift radius of the anchored balloon? How high to you suppose they might float these things?

[Euchre]

Not a mathematical genius here by any means, but using a simply Pythagorean triple of 3, 4, 5 as my basis for drift, with the side measuring 3 being the 1 mile leg of lateral drift along the ground, the length of the tether needed would be ~1.67 miles long. Now imagine the size of balloon needed to keep that aloft. That'd be a pretty massive balloon. That's also with the tether at a 53.13 degree angle - not unreasonable of an expectation for a simple wind drift. That would also put the balloon 1 1/3 miles straight up, which would make it hard to see if it wasn't huge.

Finally there's FAA regulations which pretty much preclude it being flown over 500 feet.

The rules have also been updated, it would seem to deal with the question of anyone other than an individual trying to submit an entry. Excluded now are "corporations or other organizations".

[catherwood]

[xnbomb]

[mit]

Join the MIT team, invite your friends and you can win money, help
science, and help charity!

Find all the information about our approach at
http://balloon.media.mit.edu/

THANK YOU AND... GOOD LUCK!

The MIT Red Balloon Challenge Team

[notgordian]

MIT won. Congrats, all who participated!

[krystyn]

Woot, congrats!

[Nighthawk]

I actually saw the balloon in Miami Beach, but at the time didn't have any means of contacting anyone about it or getting its position.