The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency team was first to discover the locations of 10 balloons scattered across U.S. . Contest tested use of Web-based techniques to achieve time-critical tasks . Johanna Jones , a spokeswoman for DARPA , said the hunt was designed in part to give the military new ideas on ways to operate in a range of situations , from natural disasters to combat . Challenge was announced on anniversary of first message sent on Internet 's precursor . DARPA : Winning team discovered balloons ' locations less than nine hours after launch .
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency team was first to discover the locations of 10 balloons scattered across U.S. . Contest tested use of Web-based techniques to achieve time-critical tasks . Challenge was announced on anniversary of first message sent on Internet 's precursor . DARPA : Winning team discovered balloons ' locations less than nine hours after launch .