SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

NASA is looking for a Planetary Protection Officer [usajobs.gov]:

This position is assigned to Office of Safety and Mission Assurance for Planetary Protection. Planetary protection is concerned with the avoidance of organic-constituent and biological contamination in human and robotic space exploration. NASA maintains policies for planetary protection applicable to all space flight missions that may intentionally or unintentionally carry Earth organisms and organic constituents to the planets or other solar system bodies, and any mission employing spacecraft, which are ntended to return to Earth and its biosphere with samples from extraterrestrial targets of exploration. This policy is based on federal requirements and international treaties and agreements.

Resulting in headlines like:

Nasa Is Hiring a Planetary Protection Officer to Save Earth from Aliens [newsweek.com]
NASA is hiring a Planetary Protection Officer to protect Earth from alien harm [usatoday.com]
Nasa offering six-figure salary for new 'planetary protection officer' to defend Earth from aliens [independent.co.uk]
NASA has a job opening for someone to defend Earth from aliens — and it pays a six-figure salary [businessinsider.com]

For more intrigue, the job requires a Secret clearance.

Original Submission