Defining Orbital Reef
Let ’ s look at the nuts and bolts of the name before diving into what it will do . Underwater explorers can find a reef in undersea living . It is the home for living coral in the world ’ s oceans and provides homes for sea life .
Orbit is when an object or “ body ” makes a revolution around another body or object . For example , Earth orbiting the sun . The
Earth orbits the sun on a course of 365.25 days a year .
Therefore , an Orbital Reef is an orbiting home — in this case , in the future , a home for people to live and work in space . The goal is to have Orbital Reef in place before astronauts ’ current working space home , the International Space Station ( ISS ), is retired at the end of the decade .
Brent Sherwood , senior vice president of advanced development programs ( ADP ),
Blue Origin , has said ,
“ People have dreamed of robust commercial activities in space for a long time . We now have systems that cost less to launch and land .”
Thus , they are building an ecosystem that will be in space for research and development , as well as tourism .
Sherwood said the intention is , “ Preservation , not leaving . Humanity ’ s blue origin is at the center of our vision , which we state as enabling millions of people to live and work in space to benefit Earth .”
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