She’s 40 and showing her age. Rust rims some gauges and shiny enamel paint hides the wrinkles of time.

Living quarters are cramped. The bunks look to be too small to accommodate anyone standing more than six feet. Restrooms are tiny, with the shower, toilet and sink all within an arm’s length and illuminated by a single bulb.

In the mess hall seats are anchored to the deck beside tables similarly secured. It’s a functional environment, with the single concession a partially paneled cubical with a bookshelf, flat-screen TV, worn carpet and upholstered recliner.

This is not a luxury liner, and as Dennis Nixon – who knows the routine – will tell you, those aboard spend their time working, sleeping and eating. The eating is often the only reprieve from the routine, and as Nixon knows, chef Michael Duffy goes out of his way to make it special.

There’s talk that she’s well beyond her prime, and it’s time that the National Science Foundation replace her. But her age has little to do with her mission or the fact that she carries sophisticated scientific equipment and is the pride of the state and the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.

The 185-foot R/V Endeavor has logged more than one million nautical miles and was the first research vessel on the scene of the 2006 BP Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the 2010 massive earthquake that hit Haiti. In response to the earthquake, the Endeavor – which mapped changes in the sea bottom and the fault that caused such devastation – was loaded with relief supplies, recalls Captain Rhett McMunn. The vessel’s mission hasn’t always solely been research, he pointed out.

On Saturday, stories of the vessel and her 587 scientific cruises were part of a daylong open house where the public was invited to see displays of various components of the coastline campus overlooking Dutch Harbor south of the Jamestown Bridge. The vessel was the featured attraction, with some groups of 10 and 12 people waiting nearly two hours before climbing the gangplank to find themselves on the gently rocking deck. They had plenty to see while waiting, including the campus aquarium where kids could reach into shallow tanks to touch horseshoe crabs and other creatures from Narragansett Bay. There were food trucks and, of course, Del’s. The beach was also an attraction, especially for kids pocketing stones burnished by the waves and lots of shells.

Gov. Gina Raimondo and her son, Thompson Moffit, were among the early birds Saturday. Serving as tour guide was a GSO entourage including Dean Bruce Corliss.

Asked what surprised her about the vessel, Raimondo said, “I was not so surprised as I was impressed.” She deemed the vessel a treasure for Rhode Island that serves to distinguish it as a leader in research and enhances it as a place for innovation.

And what about this aging lady of exploration?

“I’d love to have another one,” the governor said.

The Endeavor is one of 16 NFS research vessels. Its sister ship is berthed on the West Coast. It is used by institutions across the country and is preparing to take out a research team from SUNY Syracuse. David J. Kieber will be the principal investigator on the cruise, during which they will be taking water and air samples from Bermuda to the Grand Banks.

Nixon, a professor and maritime attorney who has worked for 41 years at URI and currently is the director of the Rhode Island Sea Grant, said the giant steel container on the Endeavor fantail contains a complete laboratory that the SUNY crew will use while at sea. He described the Endeavor as a moving data collection device that is perpetually recording water temperature, salinity, depth and currents.

Nixon, who lives in Jamestown and kayaks to work, finds the bay cleaner and contends that data shows it hasn’t been this clean since the Industrial Revolution, when mills spilled their refuse into the bay. He also has witnessed changes with the change in climate as species like lobster and winter flounder, which prefer cold water, are moving out and mid-Atlantic fish like squid, butterfish and scup are moving in.

Endeavor must also adjust to time and change.

Corliss calls the vessel “in great shape,” although he concedes retirement is in her future. He is hopeful that NFS will keep her berthed at the GSO to 2020 and maybe two years more, and that a slightly larger 192-foot vessel will step into her role. Such a vessel would be in the range of $125 million.

In the meanwhile, he expects the Endeavor will continue to serve her role as a floating platform for research where science teachers and students can add to the knowledge of the oceans and the valuable role they play to life on Earth.