NASA Offers Job to Protect Planet Earth From Alien Life
NASA has listed a job that looks to be as cool as it sounds.
The job profile named 'Planetary Protection Officer' is offering a chance to
eligible candidates to monitor the space company's other-worldly exploration
and to protect our Earth from extra-terrestrial contamination
NASA has put up a job opening on the US Government’s website
that sounds straight out of an alien Sci-Fi movie. NASA is searching for a
‘Planetary Protection Officer’ whose job role requires the person to safeguard
the Earth from alien Life, lest there be any. The role offered by NASA involves
several-fold objectives, including maintaining the natural states of the other
worlds that humans explore and preventing any such explored environment from
getting contaminated by Earthly microbes. Even more ‘galactic-superhero’ type
responsibility is to protect the Earth’s biosphere from alien life if it exists
anywhere.
The entire role of the Planetary Protection Officer is to
promote responsible exploration of the Universe by humans. To achieve this, the
NASA Officer needs to consider various aspects of a mission like ensuring a
sterile spacecraft used for space exploration, developing plans to protect
Earth and other planetary bodies from extra-terrestrial samples. The Planetary
Protection Officer can also form norms for space plans to ensure these goals
are met.
The initial appointment for the job will be for a tenure of
3 years, with a possibility of a 2-years extension. NASA is offering a salary
of up to $187,000 for the job to the eligible candidates. Job requirements
mention frequent travelling and a possible one-year probation period. Selected
candidates must also present a complete financial disclosure statement.
NASA has given a ‘Secret’ level security clearance to the
job role. The position is being offered to the US citizens holding a degree in
physical science, engineering or mathematics. Though the job was first
published on the website on July 13, it recently gained Internet attention when
NASA posted it on its Twitter profile
