Tracking Santa

Looks like the North American Aerospace Defense Command's annual Santa Tracker website, due to be launched today, is in for some competition. According to a Russian news report that came out earlier this month, Father Frost, Russia's Santa Claus, will have "a staff featuring a GLONASS satellite navigation system so he can be tracked on his New Year's gift-giving journey." Further:

The system will transmit Father Frost's coordinates to a special center, which will publish them on the internet so that everyone can follow his progress on his traditional New Year voyage.

"Technical innovations have become an essential part of modern life. Therefore, Father Frost has mastered computer skills, receives e-mails from children, has blogs in social networks and uses a cell phone to communicate with other magicians," said Ivan Nechayev, the executive director of the Russian Navigation Technologies company, which presented the staff.

The GLONASS module was installed in the crystal-shaped top of the staff, which is 180 cm long and weighs some 3 kg.

Last year, Father Frost's sledge and other vehicles at his residence in the town of Veliky Ustyug were also equipped with GLONASS navigation systems.

In response, NORAD earlier this month published a statement on its Facebook page:

We welcome the competition from our Russian friends this holiday season. Maybe this enterprise will one day be a uniting force.