Santa Claus and his reindeer will have some expert help this Christmas Eve, as they streak around the world to deliver joy and gifts to children everywhere. NASA flight controllers in Houston's Mission Control Center will watch over Santa throughout the night, just as they watch over the International Space Station and its crew every day.

NASA's Santa Tracker will be available beginning at 4 p.m. EST Dec. 24 on the Internet at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/index.html

Updates on Santa's progress will be posted on NASA's spaceflight website every two hours as Mission Control Houston monitors his rounds: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov

From on board the Space Station, the Expedition Six crew -- Commander Ken Bowersox, NASA Science Officer Don Pettit and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin -- will send a special holiday message to the world. They will also talk about NASA's plans to track Santa Claus.

The crew's holiday message will air on NASA Television beginning Friday, Dec. 20, as part of the daily Videofile program. Air times on Dec. 20 are noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m.,
9 p.m., midnight; and Dec. 21, 3 a.m. and 9 a.m. EST.

NASA TV programming is available through AMC2 (formerly referred to as GE2), transponder 9C. The frequency is 3880 MHz with an orbital position of 85 degrees west longitude, with audio at 6.8 MHz.

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