Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
When Santa enters North American airspace, the North American Aerospace Defense Command switches its defense mission to monitoring his travels around the world in his sleigh.
“Every year on December 24, 1,500 volunteers staff telephones and computers to answer calls and e-mails from around the world,” according to www.norad.mil. Live updates come in seven languages on the NORAD Tracks Santa website: www.noradsanta.org.
You can also tune in to the Civil Air Patrol’s national radio coverage of Santa’s epic journey at www.awdio.com/north-pole-base/events.
Civil Air Patrol radio operators across the country report local weather conditions that could affect Santa’s flight, addressing messages to North Pole Mission Base. Santa reports begin at 7pm Eastern time and remain on the air until at least midnight.
Like NORAD, the Civil Air Patrol has other jobs the rest of the year. Its HF radio systems are at work during emergency and disaster-relief operations when telephones and Internet may not be working.