NORAD Santa Tracker

http://www.dearastronomer.com/

In what has become a yearly tradition for NORAD, the “Official NORAD Santa Tracker” is online! You can see where Santa is by visiting: http://www.noradsanta.org

At this time, Santa has left his fortress of solitude at the North Pole. Based on reports from NORAD, Santa has started to make his deliveries.

For over fifty years, NORAD has tracked Santa each Christmas eve, starting in 1955 after a Colorado Springs retailer had a misprint in their advertisement for children to call Santa. The number printed happened to be the direct “hotline” for the Commander in Chief of CONAD (NORAD’S predecessor agency).

The Operations Director at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, went along with the mishap and ordered his staff to check the radar for indications of Santa heading south from the North Pole. Luckily, the children who called were given information on Santa’s location, and thus, the tradition was born.

In 1958, the United States and Canada formed the joint air defense command, known to us all as NORAD. Since NORAD’s creation, many people have volunteered their time to help track Santa on Christmas Eve. In recent years NORAD’s efforts have made their way to the Internet.

Merry Christmas!

Ray Sanders is a Sci-Fi geek, astronomer and blogger. Currently researching variable stars at Arizona State University, he writes for Universe Today, The Planetary Society blog, and his own blog, Dear Astronomer