Santa Tracker
From LoveToKnow Christmas
For anxious kids trying to stay awake on Christmas Eve, the Official Santa Tracker is a welcome tool. This online tool, which is featured on a website only active during December, allows children to track Santa in real time as he makes his travels around the globe.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command,or NORAD, operates the Santa Tracker. NORAD is responsible for monitoring the skies above the U.S. and Canada for defense purposes, but initiated the Santa Tracker in 1955. It all started when Sears Roebuck & Company published a Santa hotline in one of its ads. The copywriter inadvertently typed in NORAD’s number instead. As a gesture of goodwill, the organization started following Santa's trek on Christmas Eve.
How It Works
According to NORAD, the organization uses a long-range radar system known as the North Warning System to determine the exact time when Santa and his reindeer leave his home at the North Pole. Once he begins his travels, the following equipment is used to make regular updates:
- Aircraft radar
- Satellites
- Cameras
- Jet planes
As the organization receives updates, it posts them on its website on top of a map of the world. Tracking begins as soon as Christmas Eve arrives at the Eastern-most part of the globe.
Along with plotted points showing where Santa is, people viewing the tracker can click on the map to see live video of Santa flying via the Santa Cam. To see this video a person must have an up to date media player, such as Real Player, installed on his or her machine. Additionally, thanks to a partnership with Google, people can see 3D images using the Google Earth Tool.
The tracker is available in six languages: English, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Even though NORAD is a North American organization, people all over the world rely on its Santa Tracking technology.
More About the Website
The Santa tracker website has much more to offer than the tracker itself. People can visit it to learn more about NORAD and more about Santa. They can listen to Christmas music and download games, pictures and videos. The site is completely replaced each year, so repeat visitors are greeted with a new design, fresh content and updated technology each holiday season.
Other Trackers
While NORAD’s tracker is considered the authority, there are other trackers available. A few of the more prominent ones are:
- Microsoft’s Virtual Earth Tracker – This tracker provides 3D imaging to show Santa’s adventures. Downloading the software is required to view the tracker.
- Santa News – This Christmas-themed site has a low-tech tracker that pinpoints Santa’s location when the user refreshes the screen.
- SantaClaus.net – This site has a radar tracker that displays Santa’s latitude and longitude at any given time.
Children that are curious about Santa’s whereabouts but do not have access to the Internet can call NORAD at the official hotline for updates at 1-877-Hi-NORAD. NORAD also accepts email sent to tracking@noradsanta.org.
Considerations
Since people only need to use Santa Trackers on Christmas Eve, these tools are not functional year round. People can only check the trackers on that one day every year. On other days, the links may appear to be dead or the sites may appear to not be functional, but that all changes as soon as Christmas approaches.
Parents should supervise their children if they call or send emails to NORAD to insure they do not supply personal information, such as their first and last names or where they live. While NORAD is considered to be a trusted organization, it is never good to get children in the habit of sharing this information with strangers.
Learn More
This page has been accessed 61 times. This page was last modified 13:38, 31 October 2009.
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