A Russian astrologer took legal action against Nasa for compensation on Monday, claiming that the United States space agency’s bombardment of the Tempel 1 comet will upset her horoscope and violates her spiritual rights.
The experiment, in which Nasa fired a projectile the size of a fridge at the comet on Monday, was an attack on “the holy of holies”, Marina Bai’s lawsuit claims, according to Russian press reports. Her suit, filed at a Moscow court, claims violation of her “life and spiritual values”.
“In any case, it is obvious that elements of the comet’s orbit and associated ephemera will change after the explosion, which interferes with my practice of astrology and deforms my horoscope,” the Izvestia daily quoted Bai as saying.
Bai is demanding 8,7-billion rubles (about R2-billion) compensation.
Her lawyer, Alexander Molokhov, told the Moscow Echo radio that the case is based on solid legal ground, since Nasa has a representative office on Russian territory.
Bai originally attempted to have a court prevent the experiment from taking place, but her suit was rejected. After a higher city court intervened, the court agreed to hear the case — though too late to protect Tempel 1.
The Nasa probe rammed into the comet, which lies 133-million kilometres from Earth, early on Monday as part of an experiment that scientists hope will help reveal how the universe was formed. — AFP