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  • 2017-08-03 (xsd:date)
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  • Is NASA Hiring Someone to Protect Earth from Aliens? (en)
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  • On 2 August 2017, USA Today reported on a NASA job posting for a planetary protection officer in a way that — while sure to boost page views — took serious liberties with the nature of, and need for, the position advertised. Several other web sites reprinted the USA Today article, using headlines like NASA is Hiring Someone to Protect Earth from Aliens, which stated: While this statement is technically true, it misrepresents of the nature of the work performed by the planetary protection officer -- the most significant aspect of which is to prevent other planets and space objects from becoming contaminated by us. The NASA job posting makes this clear: And on their web site, the Planetary Protection Office also describes the two-way nature of the job: This NASA position, and the concept of planetary protection in general, is far from new. The role of planetary protection officer dates back to 1963, when the organization formed a position they dubbed the planetary quarantine officer. This position was later reorganized to carry out NASA’s commitment to principles set forth in the 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, which says: By law, the position of planetary protection officer has a term-limit -- three years with an option to extend the post by two years -- necessitating regular job announcements. Given that NASA deals with classified defense projects, it is not shocking that the job would come with security clearance, either. The current planetary protection officer, Catharine Conley, spoke to Scientific American about the duties of her job: Speaking in the forward of a NASA-published history of planetary protection, Conley described a personal experience that illustrated the importance of planetary protection: To be fair to USA Today, the job does involve protecting Earth from any potential biological contamination brought back home from space as well. For example, the upcoming Mars 2020 Rover mission has floated the idea of caching samples on the surface of the planet for later return to Earth by another mission. Such proposals must be evaluated by and designed in conjunction with the planetary protection officer to make sure nothing biologically native to Mars would contaminate Earth. However, the majority of missions in NASA’s immediate future are either Earth-observing missions or robotic missions to Mars or potentially far off rocky moons like Europa that will not return to Earth. That means much of the job will entail designing strategies to prevent the potential for contamination to these places from Earth, and not — as lightly suggested by USA Today — serving as an intergalactic Men in Black agent. (en)
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