# Russian astrologer seeks $310 million of moral damage compensation from NASA

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-astrologer-seeks-310-million-of-moral-damage-compensation-from-nasa/304772>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 20, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-astrologer-seeks-310-million-of-moral-damage-compensation-from-nasa/304772 "2005-05-20T17:33:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-astrologer-seeks-310-million-of-moral-damage-compensation-from-nasa/304772/1 "2005-05-20T17:33:39Z")

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From [this Pravda story.](http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/379/15424_comet.html)

Apparently, a Russian astronomer is upset that NASA plans to shoot a projectile into a comet this summer and use the resulting collision to uderstand more about comets’ composition. She believes that this violates the natural balance of the Universe, and is seeking over $300 million in “moral damages.”

Um…

Why does she get the all the money, if she’s right about the natural balance thing?

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**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-astrologer-seeks-310-million-of-moral-damage-compensation-from-nasa/304772/2 "2005-05-20T17:39:08Z")

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> [@Bricker](#):
>
> Why does she get the all the money, if she’s right about the natural balance thing?

> [@](#):
>
> The Russian scientist says that the above-mentioned comet is rather valuable for her as personal memory: the comet gave a start to the relationship of the astrologer’s grandparents. Marina Bai clarified that when her grandfather met her grandmother, he showed her the comet in the sky, and it became the romantic start of their long family life.

I’d expect no less than $300 million in punitive damages and $300 million in compensatory damages.

Note that the article calls her an astrologer, not an astronomer, **Bricker** , but I wonder if that may be an instance of mistranslation, as she’s also called a scientist…