MIT team was first to discover the location of 10 balloons scattered across space . and made use of Web - based techniques to achieve time - critical tasks . Challenge was announced on anniversary of first message sent on mission 's precursor . It said the MIT Red Balloon Challenge Team `` is interested in studying information flow in social networks , so if we win , we 're giving all the money away to the people who help us find the balloons ! '' DARPA : Winning team discovered balloons ' locations less than nine hours after launch .
MIT team was first to discover the location of 10 balloons scattered across space . and made use of Web - based techniques to achieve time - critical tasks . Challenge was announced on anniversary of first message sent on mission 's precursor . DARPA : Winning team discovered balloons ' locations less than nine hours after launch .