Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |
Print
E-Mail
tool name
closeWednesday, Dec. 24, 2008
Keep tabs on Santa through NORAD site
By John Trumbo, Herald staff writer
Rudolph's red nose may light the way, but high-tech radar will do real-time tracking of Santa Claus' sleigh tonight as the Jolly Ol' Elf circumnavigates the globe.
NORAD's Santa Tracker 2008 will use Poser 7 and animated 3D characters to follow the trail of gifts, thanks to a lot of help from Smith Micro Software Inc, based in Aliso Viejo, Calif.
NORAD, which normally keeps an eye on the sky to provide aerospace security for North America, has agreed to track Santa Claus on his gift-distributing flight.
Children and adults who want to follow the action can go to www.noradsanta.org, said Steve Yatson, director of graphics solutions at Smith Micro Software.
There also is a link to Google Earth that can be downloaded so Santa's fans can observe him and the reindeer as they zip around the world tonight.
Maj. Stacia Reddish, NORAD's spokeswoman for the Santa Project, said in a news release that NORAD has been keeping an eye on Santa since Christmas Eve 1955, when a typographical error in a Colorado newspaper directed Santa callers to NORAD command.
Instead of denying the obvious, officials at command accepted the mission, dutifully reporting Santa's whereabouts through the night.
Since then, with a half-century of technological advances, NORAD has helped children around the world anticipate Christmas each year.
"In 2007, the website received a whopping 10.6 million unique visits from 212 countries and territories," Reddish said.
"On Christmas Eve alone, 1,012 Santa Trackers answered 94,743 telephone calls and answered 10,326 e-mails," she added.
The Web address this year at www.noradsanta.org features Santa in flight, interactive games, history of tracking Santa and a link to send an e-mail just in time for Christmas.
@Nyx.CommentBody@