In this post-Cold War landscape, NORAD’s schedule is a bit lighter. So they’ve got even more time to keep track of Santa Claus during his busy season.

I mean, sure, they’ve been doing it for 50 years now. But have they ever had so much inside info on one Kris Kringle? Or such a line-up of celebrity greetings (quite the coup on getting both Erik Estrada and Jose Canseco in the same year, by the way)? I think not.

Ah, the perfect Christmas scene: Chestnuts roasting, tree surrounded by presents… and the family gathered around the computer monitor, watching Santa’s globe-hopping progress.