Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon may be among the fastest ships in the Star Wars universe, but it’s never had to contend with London traffic. In time for the hotly anticipated Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens coming out next week (December 17), a fan has released a modified version of Google’s popular Street View panoramas, letting you explore the the maps of Earth as though you’re in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon (or Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter, or Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing).
Selecting the Falcon will put you in London, right near Big Ben. Select Luke’s X-Wing, and you’re just south of Times Square. Pick Vader’s TIE fighter? Suddenly you’re in Belgium, staring at the Atomium, which isn’t quite a fully armed and operational battle station…but at least looks alien. Meanwhile, the iconic John Williams Star Wars theme blares over it all.
The navigation tools and transitions are admittedly clunky, but playing around with the mod can yield some fun juxtapositions. Here, for example, is what Mount Rushmore would like if Darth Vader took his TIE fighter on a sightseeing adventure.
Explore the streets of Earth here in a not-so-long time ago.