Nasa is preparing to defend the world from alien "contamination" and searching for a "planetary protection officer" - with a salary of $187,000 (£141,000).
The successful candidate will be based at the Ames Research Center in California and responsibilities include "the avoidance of organic-constituent and biological contamination in human and robotic space exploration".
This could concern a spacecraft returning from a mission with alien microbes on board, says the BBC, or the human impact on other planets in the solar system.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Catharine Conley, Nasa's planetary protection officer since 2014, told Business Insider only two positions like this exist: "One at NASA and the other at the European Space Agency."
The job dates back to 1967, the website says, "after the US ratified the Outer Space Treaty" - the basis of international space law, which also requires space missions to "have a less than one-in-10,000 chance of contaminating an alien world".
Applicants "need at least one year's experience as a civilian government employee", says the Daily Mirror, as well as "an advanced degree in physical science, engineering or mathematics".
They will also need an "advanced knowledge" of protecting the planet, the newspaper adds.
The Independent says there's a chance the new recruit will be involved with Nasa's expedition to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons that may contain alien life.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
-
Dark side of the Moon: will the race to lunar South Pole spark conflict?Today's Big Question Russia and India are competing for the ‘new lunar gold’ – but real contest will be between the US and China
-
How worried we should be about space debris
feature As part of a rocket washes up in Australia scientists warn ‘critical mass’ of orbital junk could only be decades away
-
What is NASA's Artemis program?
Speed Read NASA's ambitious Artemis program will eventually create a base on the moon — and lay the foundations for manned missions to Mars
-
SpaceX launches 1st all-civilian crew into orbit
Speed Read
-
Is SpaceX's Inspiration4 really an inspiration?
Talking Point
-
Jeff Bezos' Promethean impulse
Talking Point
-
The benefits of billionaires in space
opinion This is how innovation begins
-
Reach for the Moon: Nokia and Nasa to build 4G lunar network
Speed Read Deal is part of the US space agency’s plan to establish human settlements on the lunar surface
