Google Street View Maps First Skyscraper, Dubai's Burj-Khalifa

For years, the Google Street View team has captured the world's most interesting places and put the 360-degree imagery on Google Maps for the world to experience virtually. This has made touring the planet from your home as simple as a few clicks, but there are still a number of famous places even Google has not yet mapped.

Now, another one of the planet's amazing locations can be crossed off the list as the Street View team has just unveiled new images from the tallest building in the world, the Burj-Khalifa, in Dubai.

According to Google, this is the first time the team has captured a skyscraper for Street View. It also represents an expansion of Google's Street View in the Middle East; (the first Street View images of Israel went up last year).

Led by Street View program manager Pascal Malite, the team used the backpack and trolley versions of Google's now familiar three-dimensional mapping device to explore the building's numerous passageways, massive viewing stations, and outside pavilions, all to give Google Maps users a comprehensive view of Dubai's biggest attraction. The process of capturing the entire site, including a 360-degree panoramic view from atop the 2,717-foot building, took about three days.

Aerial views include scenes from the building's highest public observation deck on the 124th floor, the highest swimming pool facility in the world on the 76th floor, and the very highest room in the building on the 163rd floor (even the pricey penthouse suite is far below, on the 103rd floor).

Finally, to give users the same view Tom Cruise had in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, the team used window cleaner baskets to hang from the outside of the building on the 80th floor. Buffeted by winds that usually gust up to 40 miles per hour, the Street View team captured stunning exterior views that bring home exactly how awesome the mapping tool can be for those looking for a little virtual adventure on the other side of the world.

You can see some behind-the-scenes footage of the mapping expedition in the video below, and you can start exploring the Burj-Khalifa yourself on Google Maps.