[SatNews] From London to Ulaanbaatar...

Global satellite tracking expert Track24 Solo is sponsoring 2011 Mongol Rally team, the 'Social Media Syndicate'. The company will provide the team with its state-of-the-art online Solo Viewer and a PackMaster Lo-Pro tracking and two-way messaging device. This will allow family and friends of the four team members to track their route as they drive unsupported from London, England on July 23, to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, covering 10,000 miles, 15 countries and 2 continents. The team is raising money for the Christina Noble Children's Foundation, which helps homeless and abandoned children in Mongolia. The Packmaster Lo-Pro is a small, mobile, two-way personal satellite tracking device. It uses the Iridium global network for two-way messaging and connectivity across the entire planet. Secure online access will allow the team's supporters to log in and track the team's location, progress and status on the Solo Viewer. Satellite images showing the team's progress will be uploaded to Track24 Solo's Facebook page, making it available to anyone who clicks 'Like' on the page. The PackMaster Lo-Pro also has two-way satellite messaging capability, providing the four adventurers with a communication channel to stay in touch as they drive across some of the world's most isolated and unfriendly terrain, including mountains and deserts (route pictured below). The device also has a panic button which allows the team to instantly notify their friends and family in case of an emergency. More than 300 teams took part in last year's rally, many of them not making it all the way to Mongolia.