{"id":38613,"date":"2019-12-24T17:05:41","date_gmt":"2019-12-24T17:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/12\/24\/us-astronauts-in-space-now-helping-military-track-santa\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:28:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:28:27","slug":"us-astronauts-in-space-now-helping-military-track-santa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2019\/12\/24\/us-astronauts-in-space-now-helping-military-track-santa\/","title":{"rendered":"US astronauts in space now helping military track Santa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 1955 a young child trying to reach Santa Claus accidentally dialed a U.S. military base sparking a tradition that has now lifted off to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/03\/05\/space-force-would-be-by-far-the-smallest-military-service\/\" target=_blank>space<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For over 60 years the North American Aerospace Defense Command and its predecessor the Continental Air Defense Command have been helping track Jolly ole Saint Nick for excited kids as he delivers millions of presents to children across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now for the first time, Army Col. Andrew Morgan, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, has stepped into the tradition helping spot Santa and his reindeer as his sleigh packed with Yuletide gifts races across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/12\/21\/the-space-force-is-officially-the-sixth-military-branch-heres-what-that-means\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/rocket.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The Space Force is officially the sixth military branch. Here\u2019s what that means.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">About 16,000 civilian and active duty personnel are now part of the Space Force, but the road to standing up the service is long.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe believe this marks the first time American Astronauts aboard the ISS are working directly with NORAD to confirm Santa\u2019s location reports,\u201d NORAD said in a news release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kids can also track Santa\u2019s progress through NORAD\u2019s interactive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.noradsanta.org\/\" target=_blank>website<\/a> that show\u2019s Santa\u2019s position in real-time, including number of presents he has delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn addition to our day-to-day mission of defending North America, we are proud to carry on the tradition of tracking Santa as he travels along his yuletide flight path,\u201d Gen. Terrence O\u2019Shaughnessy, commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, said in a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.norad.mil\/Newsroom\/Press-Releases\/Article\/2030068\/norad-tracks-santa-program-kicks-off-for-2019\/\" target=_blank> news release<\/a>. \u201cThe same radars, satellites and interceptors employed on December 24 are used year-round to defend Canadian and American airspace from threats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/12\/24\/is-this-santa-claus-how-a-misprinted-ad-and-a-good-hearted-colonel-sparked-norads-christmas-tradition\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"185\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4009949.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">\u2018Is this Santa Claus?\u2019 A misprinted ad and a good-hearted colonel sparked NORAD\u2019s Christmas tradition<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">When Col. Harry Shoup answered the hotline from the Pentagon in December 1955, a small boy asked for Santa Claus. What happened next started a beloved, six-decade-plus tradition.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"400\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NORAD-Santa-Shoup.JPG.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-42795\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NORAD-Santa-Shoup.JPG.jpg 680w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NORAD-Santa-Shoup.JPG.jpg?resize=300,176 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Col. Harry Shoup, the original Air Force Santa tracker. Shoup inadvertently launched the annual tradition when a child accidentally called him on the hotline at the Continental Air Defense Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, looking for Santa Claus. (Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.norad.mil\/About-NORAD\/NORAD-Tracks-Santa\/\" target=_blank>fact sheet <\/a>on NORAD\u2019s website, nearly 15 million people every year visit the Santa tracking site, and volunteers take roughly 130,000 phone calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NORAD says its tracking program is made possible by volunteers and through the support of corporate licensees who \u201cbear virtually all of the costs,\u201d according to a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvidshub.net\/feature\/NORADTracksSanta\" target=_blank> news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kids can track Santa at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.noradsanta.org\/\" target=_blank>www.noradsanta.org<\/a> or call 1-877-HiNORAD for Santa\u2019s latest location.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWe believe this marks the first time American Astronauts aboard the ISS are working directly with NORAD to confirm Santa\u2019s location reports.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":15,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[29,15,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3472],"class_list":["post-38613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-news","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"SBSDNGXPXZCQXGLJGGIRV55YP4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/12\/24\/us-astronauts-in-space-now-helping-military-track-santa\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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