The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) will make pioneering observations in the far ultraviolet (912–1850 Å) and extreme ultraviolet (420–912 Å) bands during its upcoming flight aboard the Astro-1 shuttle mission, currently scheduled for launch on May 9, 1990. HUT employs an iridium-coated 0.9-meter f/2 primary mirror, an osmium-coated grating, and a CsI-coated microchannel plate intensifer to achieve a resolution of about 3 A in first order, with a peak effective area of 15 cm2 at 1100 Å, and time resolution of 2 milliseconds, HUT’s EUV response is obtained in second order, with a peak effective area of 10 cm2 at 600 Å.

HUT is expected to obtain several hundred spectra during its upcoming mission, ranging from Comet Austin to the quasar HS 1700+64 at a redshift of 2.7. The design and operation of the instrument are described, and simulated spectra are used to illustrate a sample of the problems that will be addressed during the Astro-1 mission. In order for HUT to be exploited fully, however, it would be desirable to convert it to a free-flying satellite mode