NORAD Gets Ready To Track Santa’s Journey
NORAD Gets Ready To Track Santa’s Journey
It’s that time of the year again and the North American Aerospace Defense Command is getting ready to track Santa! The NORAD Tracks Santa Web site, www.noradsanta.org, is now live and features fun holiday games and activities that change daily. The Web site is available in seven languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Chinese. On Dec. 24, the website will stream videos, captured by NORAD “Santa Cams,” from numerous cities along Santa’s journey.
This year, children and the young-at-heart are able to track Santa through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and TroopTube.mil. To follow us on any of these Web sites, type in @noradsanta into the search engine and start your tracking.
New this year, OnStar is partnering with NORAD to provide OnStar subscribers with live Santa updates as they travel in their vehicles on Christmas Eve. Subscribers simply push the blue OnStar button to get status reports on Santa’s whereabouts.
Also new and beginning at 12:00 a.m. MST on Dec. 24, visitors to the website can watch Santa as he prepares his sleigh, checks his list, and goes through all his preparations to ensure he has a successful journey.
As soon as Santa takes off from the North Pole, children can also track him with up-to-the-minute Google Maps and Google Earth reports.
Santa trackers will begin answering phones and replying to email at 4:00 a.m. MST (6:00 a.m. EST) on Christmas Eve. Children of all ages can call the NTS toll free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) or send an email to [email protected].
Published on Dec 3, 2013
As the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) prepared to track the journey of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, they took a test run with Santa and provided an inside look at their command and control center in a video acquired by Reuters on Tuesday (December 3).
The video on the newly redesigned “NORAD Tracks Santa” website depicted the military personnel involved in NORAD’s operations and the cutting-edge technologies they used during Santa’s test flight before Christmas.
“We all know that Santa travels faster than starlight,” an officer says in the video, “but this is nothing that our technologies can’t handle.”
Not surprisingly, Santa’s call sign was “Big Red One” as NORAD tracked his travels across North America.
Although the U.S. military website showing Santa Claus delivering his presents while guarded by warplanes has some children’s advocates worried, NORAD videos have linked fighter escorts and Santa since the 1960s, according to Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
“This year, we wanted to showcase who NORAD is and what they do,” said Navy Captain Jeff Davis.
NORAD is charged with the peaceful defense of North American airspace, according to Captain Davis. It as been sponsoring the “NORAD Tracks Santa” program since the mid-1950s to highlight its mission.
The tradition started in 1955 when a local advertisement encouraged children to call Santa, but misprinted the number. Instead of reaching Santa the phone rang at the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center.
Last year, the program drew 22.3 million visitors to their website and generated 114,000 phone calls from around the United States.
Twelve hundred volunteers will work in the call center this year to take calls from children inquiring about Santa’s whereabouts on Christmas Eve, December 24.
Santa’s journey can also tracked on the website at www.noradsanta.org which is available in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Chinese.
You can also visit me at:
.png)
Be AWARE and be PREPARED, FEAR is not an option. Be safe everyone…
