Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope on Display in the Smithsonian

Update from Ken Potocki:

This September a celebration of the two space shuttle launches in 1990 and 1995 of the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) was held at the Johns Hopkins University Department of Physics and Astronomy. I was the Engineering Manager responsible for building HUT. I gave a talk at the reunion about the challenges in building a 1736 pound, 12 feet long by four foot diameter precision telescope to survive the space shuttle launch forces and maintain focus. After the two successful flights, Hopkins donated the HUT to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, where it was displayed starting in 2001. I am attaching  photos of me speaking at the Hopkins Physics Department; our management team in front of the HUT prior to delivery to NASA; Hut in the shuttle bay during flight; and Hut on display at the Smithsonian. I joke with students that you can understand how old I am by looking at something I built on display in a museum.

Author: Rambler58

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