Satellite snaps amazing 36th birthday pic of Hubble Space Telescope (photo)

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope was on the receiving end of an amazing space photo for a change. On Friday (April 24), Hubble's 36th birthday , the Colorado-based spatial intelligence company Vantor published a stunning, close-up shot of the telescope that was taken the day before by one of its WorldView Legion Earth-observing satellites. "Celebrating 36 years of discovery with the Hubble Space Telescope ," Vantor wrote in an X post that shared the photo. "For over three decades, Hubble has expanded our understanding of the universe —delivering breathtaking imagery and groundbreaking science that continue to inspire. Proud to support the technologies and teams that make moments like this possible." The post also gives some details about the image and Hubble itself, which launched to low Earth orbit (LEO) aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990. For example, the in-space photo was taken from just 34.8 miles (61.8 kilometers) away, providing "an incredible perspective of one of humanity’s most iconic scientific instruments," the X post reads. "With a space sample distance of 4.0 cm [1.6 inches], Hubble’s signature cylindrical body, gleaming thermal shielding, and extended solar arrays are clearly visible, along with the open aperture door at the front of the telescope ." Vantor (previously known as Maxar Intelligence) operates six WorldView Legion satellites, all of which orbit at the same general altitude — around 322 miles (518 km) above Earth. …