For Sale: Luxury Island Home In the Stars

Are you sick of other people? Itching to find a home away from it all where you can commune with the universe?

You could buy an earth-bound island and live there. But the supply of livable islands around the world is finite. Besides, the castaway routine is getting passé.

If you want something really special, how about a luxury single-family home nestled in the folds of a comet? It’s the ultimate island experience.

Now that we’ve landed a spacecraft on a comet, it’s only a matter of time before these hunks of orbiting rock become real estate. Sure, there’s no atmosphere and you can’t hop a boat to do food shopping. But there’s limitless solar energy and we’ll soon be making hotdogs with 3D printers.

Besides, when most comets are occupied there’ll be space malls and rocket-propelled MacDonald’s joints. When Richard Branson irons out the flaws in his Virgin Galactic spaceship, there will even be a bus service.

Far-fetched? Consider this: on September 10, 2014, H.R 5063 The American Space Technology for Exploring Resource Opportunities (Asteroids) Act received a hearing at the US House Science space subcommittee. The act would grant US companies the rights to resources they extract from asteroids. No kidding. Look it up. OK, the wing nuts in the House of Representatives don’t inspire much confidence, but a project packed with as much space-pork as this one surely has a lot of mileage.

The chances are that the real estate industry is already drawing up plans for the first comet-based housing developments, with names such as Nebula View and Red Dwarf Crossing.

You’ve been warned. If you don’t want to miss the space island boom, start saving for your down payment now. And if you’re really sick of Planet Earth and want out, keep this in mind: Halley’s Comet only visits Mother Earth once every 75 years or so. You’ll have just enough time to get a pedicure and a few essentials before zooming off on another trip around the galaxy.

Photo: NASA