URI offers tours of Inner Space Center

Three public tours in February

Elizabeth Rau

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. –Seafaring enthusiasts and students looking for ways to keep busy during the February break can check out tours offered by the University of Rhode Island’s world-famous Inner Space Center.

Tours will be offered Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 3 p.m., Monday, Feb. 15 at 11 a.m., and Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 3 p.m. Space is limited, so registration is required by visiting the center’s website Inner Space Center or contacting Romy Pizziconi at romy@uri.edu or 401-874-6119. Each tour is limited to the first 20 registrants, and the cost is $5 for each person.

The center on URI’s Narragansett Bay Campus brings ocean science research and exploration through telepresence technologies to the world in real time. The centerpiece of the Ocean Science and Exploration Center, the Inner Space Center uses a satellite system and Internet2 to allow scientists and students to participate in ocean-going research expeditions without leaving campus. 

Around-the-clock live video of research expeditions aboard ships in the U.S. research fleet and other ships such as the Ocean Exploration Trust’s E/V Nautilus and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Okeanos Explorer is transmitted to the center from sea. Scientists, teachers, students and the public can observe and listen as scientific discoveries are made in real time.

Tours of the center’s facilities include the opportunity to view expedition footage (both live and archived), a display of artifacts recovered from ancient shipwrecks and the video production studio where live television and Internet programming is produced.

The center offers tours to school, youth and adult groups, as well as educational programs on a variety of topics. Please visit innerspacecenter.org for more information. 

Pictured above: The Inner Space Center on the University of Rhode’s Narragansett Bay Campus. Photo courtesy of the Inner Space Center.