MOSCOW – When NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft hurls a barrel-sized probe at the comet Tempel-1 millions of miles from Earth on July 4, Marina Bai of Moscow will take it very personally.
The 45-year-old mother of two is so upset about the scientific assault on the celestial body that she has taken the unusual step of suing the National Aeronautics and Space Agency in Moscow courts. Her lawsuit seeks to block the launch of the probe and to recover $311 million in “moral” damages.
Bai, a self-published author and spiritualist, said this week that she couldn’t sleep after watching a television report about the Deep Impact mission, the work of a team of astronomers at the University of Maryland, when it was launched Jan. 12.
“Somewhere deep inside me a voice told me the whole mission had to be stopped,” she said in an interview. “I fear that it could have an impact on all humanity.”
In court papers, Bai asserts that Deep Impact will “infringe upon my system of spiritual and life values, in particular on the values of every element of creation, upon the unacceptability of barbarically interfering with the natural life of the universe, and the violation of the natural balance of the universe.”
Dolores Beasley, a spokeswoman for NASA, said it would be “inappropriate” to comment.
Plans call for Deep Impact to launch a 770-pound copper projectile at the 2.5-mile-wide comet on Independence Day. The 23,000-mph impact is expected to blast a hole in the comet’s icy surface.
Cameras and sensors on board the spacecraft will record the event in an effort to help scientists determine the structure and chemical composition of Tempel-1. Comets are thought to be bits of ice, dust and rock left over from the formation of the universe 4 billion years ago.
Scientists have dismissed fears that the collision might break up or divert the comet, comparing the impact to a mosquito striking a Boeing 747.
But Bai fears the bombardment could somehow disrupt mystical forces. More practically, she added, it might create an open season on celestial objects by the world’s spacefaring nations.
“If the Americans can study comets with the help of bombs, why not the Chinese?” she asked. “Americans want to be ahead of everybody. And maybe that’s good, but not in this case. It’s a barbaric method, to study the universe with bombs.”
Bai’s attorney, Alexander Molokhov, said the damage claim was calculated under Russian law, which allows plaintiffs to recover an amount equal to the cost of the undertaking that allegedly does the harm.
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