Where's Santa Claus Now? U.S. Government's Tracker Competes With NORAD's

Where's Santa Claus Now? It's a question kids across America may be asking their parents, and one that a U.S. governmental site exists to keep track of.

The NORAD Santa tracker may be more popular and well-known, but there's a second option when your children ask about old St. Nick, and it's called, fittingly, "Where's Santa Claus Now?"

Simply click this link to be taken to the U.S. Department of Energy's official Santa Claus tracker. One of the fun things that the government offers in between all the politicking and paper-pushing, this site is one that will surely delight little ones across America.

Many people don't know that the Department of Energy even offers such a fun diversion, but President Barack Obama's official White House Twitter account sent the following message out to its followers on Christmas Eve reminding folks to check it out:

"Where is Santa Claus now? @Energy's Los Alamos National Lab tracks his progress around the globe on Christmas Eve: http://at.wh.gov/gl9h1"

The tracking Website offers the following information about the service, for those who want to know just how they are able to follow Santa's movements around the globe:

"To monitor Santa's progress as he races around the world delivering presents and goodies to good children everywhere, we will be using the satellite tracking dishes in the high mountains of Los Alamos, New Mexico, as well as sensors on the FORTE satellite and the 2007 launched Cibola Flight Experiment (CFE) satellite. In addition, the U.S. Air Force, with nine tracking stations around the world, will also help us monitor Santa's travels."

The site serves as an opportunity for kids to soak up a bit of aerospace knowledge amid all the hustle and bustle of Christmas Eve. It's a fun ruse for the whole family, according to the site:

"Follow Santa and his crew across the globe. Santa, Rudolph, and the other hard-working reindeer love to surprise, so it is not always easy to know exactly where they will be on Christmas Eve. But based on years of satellite tracking data, we have below what we think will be their preliminary flight plan. So prick up your ears and listen for that 'Ho Ho Ho' as we follow Santa on his travels."

And before you stop by the site itself, check out the basic flight path, as provided by the "Where's Santa Claus Now?" team:

At 6 a.m., Santa Claus leaves the North Pole and points his sleigh west toward the International Date Line, the site says. Then he follows the following basic route:

The official NORAD Santa Claus tracker, dubbed "NORAD Tracks Santa," has become extremely popular in recent years. Set up by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, it is also fun for little ones to check out, as it provides a wide range of info about Santa Claus and his route around the world.