Astrologer sues Nasa for $300m
2005-07-04 14:55
Moscow - 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 would upset her horoscope and violates her spiritual rights.
Marina Bai's law suit claimed that according to Russian press reports, 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".
Her suit, filed at a Moscow court, claimed violation of her "life and spiritual values."
The Izvestia daily quoted Bai as saying: "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."
Bai was demanding $300m, compensation.
Her lawyer, Alexander Molokhov, said that the case was based on solid legal ground, since Nasa had 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 lay 133 million km from Earth, early on Monday as part of an experiment that scientists hope would help reveal how the universe was formed.
- AFP