In article ,
Andrew Higgins wrote:
As I recall, some of Hubble's instruments would be damaged if viewing the
fully illuminated Earth; it's too bright.

Some couldn't take it, but some can -- in fact, it's been used for
instrument calibration (as has the Moon).

http://www.badastronomy.com/mad/2000/hubbleearth.html

Hubble can't *track* something going past that quickly, however. (In
fact, if memory serves, it can't track the Moon, never mind the Earth --
its occasional lunar images are taken using low-precision pointing that
wouldn't be adequate for serious scientific work but does passable
snapshots.)
--
MOST launched 30 June; science observations running | Henry Spencer
since Oct; first surprises seen; papers pending. |