The Iditarod, which starts Saturday, has been called the “Last Great Race on Earth”. Covering over 1150 miles in 10 to 17 days, it begins in Anchorage, in south central Alaska, to Nome on the western Bering Sea coast. Each team of 12 to 16 dogs and their musher are on their own, though long hours of darkness and treacherous climbs.
The Achorage Daily News has complete coverage, while The Insider 2009 GPS Tracker, a subscription service, tracks how fast teams are traveling, distance between teams and checkpoints along with current temperatures on the trail.
The Iditarod Trail Committee (ITC), organizers of the race, tested Iridium-based tracking technology on several dog sleds in 2008. This year it mandated all mushers must mount an Iridium-based tracking device, provided by IonEarth, an Iridium value-added reseller, on their sleds.
The IonEarth device, developed for the Iditarod, consists of a miniature GPS receiver, Iridium short-burst data (SBD) modem, control electronics and lightweight, high-performance batteries especially designed for extended operation in severe temperatures. The devices transmit position, speed, heading and temperature through the Iridium network to a central server every 15 minutes. A live map shows the position of the race teams
Race officials also will be equipped with Iridium 9505A satellite phones provided by Roadpost, an Iridium Service Provider, for safety and operational purposes during the three-week race.
The Iditarod Air Force consists of 28 volunteer pilots and the 6 load coordinators. They provide flying support. Iridium’s fastest-growing market is their ‘Machine-to-Machine’ service, with revenues up 104 percent and subscribers increasing more than 131 percent in the last year,” says Greg Ewert, Iridium Executive Vice President
