2023 SETI TOUR

Summer Tour Dates Now Available! Limited spaces available...book today! 

Please read all of the following information before making your purchase.

Upon checkout, select "Pickup" as your shipping option. You will not collect your ticket until the day of your tour; Check in at Gift Shop or Front Desk area.  Ticket admits one; no discounts apply.

Cancellations and date change requests are accepted outside of one week from your purchased tour time. Inside of one week, refunds and date changes will not be issued.

The SETI Tour requires that a visitor registration form be submitted at least 48 Hours in advance.  The visitor registration form can be found at https://info.nrao.edu/oas/dpscompliance. This must be submitted after your purchase for your reservation to be confirmed. 

Our tour celebrates Green Bank's historic role in the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI). We begin where it all started, in the control room of our 85-1 Telescope used by Frank Drake in the original search, Project Ozma. From there, guests enjoy rare admittance into the 140-Foot Telescope where Jill Tarter's Project Pheonix took place, and then on to restricted access points at the base of the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The tour concludes in the historic Drake Lounge for a conversation with a staff astronomer about the future of SETI and the role of the GBT in the Breakthrough Listen project.

If you've ever wanted to be inside our control rooms or speak to one of our radio astronomers in person, then this is THE opportunity of a lifetime!

Select Fridays; 1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m; $40/person. Advance reservations required. 20 participants max.; 4 min. Ages 12 & up.

You will be required to turn off your phone and all electronics while touring most of the Observatory grounds. You may bring a film camera or purchase a disposable camera in our Gift Shop to capture your experiences.

Accessibility Note: access to some of the historical sites visited on this tour does require the use of stairs.  Accommodations can be made for parts of the tour with advance notice. Please call 304-456-2150 or email us at visit@gbobservatory.org

In the event of severe weather conditions, the Green Bank Observatory site and Science Center could close. We will make every attempt to notify ticket holders about closures. Feel free to call us at 304-456-2150 before departing on your trip to our site if you have any concerns.