NASA wants to hire a "planetary protection officer" to protect Earth from alien contamination, according to The Independent. The person appointed will have a six-figure salary. The job involves frequent travel, and only American citizens can apply for this job.
Planetary Protection Officer
The full-time position offered by NASA is called "Planetary Protection Officer." The person hired will have to make sure that people in space will not contaminate the planets and their natural satellites, but also that alien matter will not infect the Earth. The salary is $ 187,000 per year plus other benefits.
The employment announcement says that planetary protection is related to the avoidance of biological contamination and organic components contamination in space missions with a human or robotic crew.
The quoted text says NASA has planetary protection policies applicable to all space missions because these space missions could transport terrestrial organisms and organic components to other planets of our Solar System deliberately or not. They also say any space mission could return to Earth with samples of extraterrestrial exploration.
The second job of this kind
There is only one similar full-time job in the world. Catharine Conley is a planetary protection officer at NASA since 2014. Conley explained that under the 1967 international treaty, any space mission must have less than a chance at 10,000 to contaminate an alien world.
For this reason, they must make sure that a robot or a probe that flies over a planet or makes photos of that planet does not affect harmful. NASA's planetary protection officer says this happens at a moderate level.
Potential dangers from Mars
NASA's new employee will also strive to protect the Earth from potential contamination from planets like Mars — which scientists say it has been covered with waters and it has a life-sustaining atmosphere.
The job requirements
Candidates will have to travel a lot and — like any other job — they will have to respond to emails, suggestions and other information. Candidates must have at least one year of experience as a senior civilian government employee and a diploma in physics, engineering or mathematics. The person also needs to have advanced knowledge of planetary protection.
The job also requires "demonstrable skills in diplomacy that led to winning solutions for all parties during extremely difficult multilateral discussions." The person who will get this job will also receive a security access with the rating "secret."