This week, SpaceX proves it is up to the challenge, and how to put an early warning system to good use: searching for Santa Claus

SpaceX returns a rocket to Earth, lands it safely

Elon Musk Tweet from Monday night: “There and back again.”

He was celebrating the successful return and landing of a Falcon 9 rocket that had just deliverd 11 satellites into space.

Musk blogged about the launch beforehand: “We do see lots of movies about space, but, unless you’re watching an IMAX documentary, they vary from slightly wrong, like The Martian (good movie!), to mostly absurdly wrong, like Red Planet (don’t watch this, it will hurt your brain), which also doesn’t help intuition.”

Competing space company Blue Origin was the first to successfully VTOL, but the Falcon 9 used by SpaceX is much larger and traveled much higher.

You can watch a replay of the landing here.

NORAD Santa Tracker

The North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, has been tracking Santa Claus since 1955. The Internet and mobile technology has made it easier, and more fun, for the organization to share the experience with the world.

And it all started because of a typo in a newspaper ad. The story, related in Wikipedia has been verified true by Snopes.com.

NORAD reports on Santa’s delivery progress were originally delivered by radio and as part of television weather reports. But now, kids can stay apprised by visiting the website, or on Facebook and Twitter.

There are also mobile apps for Android, iOS, and Windows 10.

Here’s behind-the-scenes footage of Santa’s test flight from last year. His call sign: Big Red One.