Annual Tradition from North American Aerospace Defense Command Celebrates 50th Season of Tracking Santa's VoyageAmerica Online, Akamai Technologies and AGI Team Up to Support Record Web Traffic from Around the World on Christmas Eve
Dulles, VA (November 23, 2004)- The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) today announced the launch of the "NORAD Tracks Santa" Web site that allows Internet users to track Santa's Christmas Eve trip around the world. Beginning today, believers of all ages can get a head start in preparing for Santa's special Christmas Eve mission by going to www.noradsanta.org or on the America Online service at Keyword: Santa.
Hosted by America Online and delivered by Akamai Technologies, the NORAD Santa tracking site utilizes 300 servers worldwide to allow millions of kids the opportunity to get up-to-the-minute reports, streaming video and pictures from Santa's journey. Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI) software technology brings the images from NORAD's "Santa Cams" to computer and television screens around the world. Last year, the NORAD Santa Tracker web site received a record 576 million hits during the 72 hour period surrounding Christmas. At 9 pm ET on Christmas Eve last year, the site was receiving 12,000 hits per second, and the live videos of Santa's journey were streamed more than 9 million times. Akamai's global platform will ensure the reliable delivery of content for this year's Web visitors.
As it has done for the past 49 years, NORAD will track Santa Claus as he makes his annual journey on December 24. Along with conducting its critical mission of protecting U.S. and Canadian airspace, NORAD performs this special duty each holiday season, using radar, satellites and Santa Cams. On Christmas Eve, NORAD's powerful North Warning radar system, which has 47 installations across the country, determines when Santa departs from the North Pole. Once the radar has identified Santa, heat-detecting infrared sensors on NORAD's satellites then monitor Santa's journey. Santa Cams-high-speed digital cameras positioned at different places around the world-perform the final step in the technology transfer by capturing images at Santa's various stops and downloading them to the NORAD site using AGI's aerospace analysis and visualization software. For the second consecutive year, Ringo Starr has been selected as honorary Santa tracker. The former Beatle will provide the update of Santa's progress on Christmas Eve from Great Britain.
The live video clips start on Dec. 24 at 5:00 a.m. ET and are updated regularly until 3:30 a.m. ET on Dec. 25. The site will feature 25 key stops that Jolly Old St. Nick makes across the globe, beginning by flying over Northern Canada and Alaska and ending in the South Pacific; with visits to cities such as Moscow, London, New York, and Reindeer Lake, Canada. The NORAD site is available in English, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish. The AOL Latino service will also offer coverage in Spanish.
About America Online, Inc.
America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and e-commerce services.
About AGI
AGI, based in Exton, PA, produces analysis software for the national security and space communities. For additional information about AGI or its software technologies, visit www.agi.com.
About Akamai Technologies, Inc.
Akamai(r) (NASDAQ: AKAM) is the global leader of distributed computing solutions and services, making the Internet predictable, scalable, and secure for conducting profitable e-business. For more information, visit www.akamai.com.
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