An imaging device that gives a ground based user immediate access to a detailed aerial photograph of the entire area for a given radius about his present position. The device can be launched into the air, and rotates in a predictable pattern to scan an imager over every point of the ground, from a vantage point high in the air. These pictures can be stored or transmitted to the ground and assembled on a computer to form a spherical picture of everything surrounding the imaging device in the air.