People with access to the World Wide Web can log onto a special Los Alamos web site beginning at 6 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 24, and track Santa's progress as he his way around the world to deliver Christmas cheer and goodwill. The site - located at http://santa.lanl.gov - will give hourly updates of the Jolly Old Elf''s progress as he makes his way to Northern New Mexico on Christmas Eve.
Those without web access can listen to hourly reports on radio station KRSN, AM 1490.
"We expect Santa to arrive in Northern New Mexico at around midnight Mountain Standard Time on Christmas Eve," said Diane Roussel-Dupré of Los Alamos' Satellite Tracking Group. "Basically, we expect that he'll be chasing the International Date Line in order to make his deliveries at midnight in all locations around the world."
Los Alamos space scientists will use satellite tracking dishes located in Los Alamos and Fairbanks, Alaska, to monitor Santa's progress as he races around the world delivering presents and goodies to children everywhere. In addition, Los Alamos scientists will keep an eye on St. Nick with sensors on the ALEXIS and FORTE satellites, and the U.S. Air Force with its nine tracking stations around the world also will help monitor the sleigh and its eight tiny reindeer.
"We like to think of our efforts as another way to help spread glad tidings," Roussel-Dupré said. "This is our present to the communities of Northern New Mexico."
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.