Santa’s Reindeer: Propulsion or Navigation?

[451 words] This true “Ask an Engineer” question appeared in 2013 on an MIT website and was also answered by a graduate student. This student deconstructs the poem, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” to analyze the navigation, guidance system, and control of Santa’s sleigh. It is a truly bizarre read, but nevertheless, with scholarly efficiency, this student shows the relationship between reindeer, Santa, and a sleigh as a controllable vehicle. By the way, the answer this student came to is that the reindeer are for propulsion and for navigation. I cannot escape the nagging feeling that this grad student missed the point entirely. Jesus had a very volatile relationship with the Pharisees and Sadducees. There were many times they would come testing Him to see if He would produce a sign to show He was from heaven (Matt. 16:1). Yet, as Jesus did an abundance of teaching and miraculous evidence…