Santa to Leave North Pole Two Hours Later This Year
Dec 17 2008
Members of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) are preparing to track Santa Claus again this year and are working to accommodate the jolly fellow’s change in flight schedule.
NORAD, in coordination with the North Pole staff, has been notified that Santa will launch two hours later than he has in previous years. No specific explanation was provided and according to the North Pole staff, Santa will launch from the North Pole 6 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
“For the past six years Santa has launched from the North Pole two hours earlier than he intends this year,” said Maj. Stacia Reddish, NORAD Tracks Santa Program Manager. “Although we are not 100-percent certain of the reason behind the later departure, it may be due to the bedtime hour for youngsters around the world. In years past, Santa has often times had to circle back around since many of the children were not asleep when he visited them the first time.”
Also new this year, people can get updates on Santa’s travels using Twitter. Follow @noradsanta once logged in to www.twitter.com to not only track Santa but to participate in Twitter holiday conversations.
In preparation for the launch, the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center is being readied to kick into high gear for tracking Santa Dec. 24. More than 1,000 Santa tracker volunteers have signed on to cycle through the center answering telephone calls and e-mails from children around the world wanting to get a fix on Santa Claus’ whereabouts.
A toll free number is available at (877)-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) for children to call and personally speak to a Santa tracker on Christmas Eve. In addition, children can send an e-mail to noradtrackssanta@gmail.com.
In 2007, 1,012 volunteers at the NTS Operations Center answered 94,743 telephone calls and 10,326 emails from children around the world.
The NORAD Tracks Santa Web site, www.noradsanta.org, went live Dec. 1 and has already recorded more than a 1.016 million visitors from more than 200 countries and territories. Last year, the site received almost 11 million visitors from 212 countries and territories around the world.
On Dec 24, when Santa takes off from the North Pole, children can track him with up-to-the-minute reports in Google Maps and Google Earth and can view video captured by NORAD’s Santa cams from several key stops. All of this information is available on the Web site in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and new this year, Chinese.
