NASA is currently looking for someone to hire who can defend the earth from “alien contamination”. And they’ll pay you a pretty healthy salary if you can fulfill the role.

Featured Image VIA 

The full-time role of “planetary protection officer” involves ensuring that humans in space don’t contaminate planets as well as making sure that alien matter doesn’t infect Earth.

The job requires “frequent travel” and if you’re up for it, they’ll pay you $187,000 (£141,000) per year with benefits.

The job description says:

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 intended to return to Earth and its biosphere with samples from extraterrestrial targets of exploration.

Image VIA

The three year position, which could potentially be extended to five years, was created after the US signed the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, promising to “pursue studies of outer space … and conduct exploration of them so as to avoid their harmful contamination and also adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter.”

So what we’ve got here is an interesting job at the world’s largest space agency with the promise of at least three years in the position and a six-figure salary. Where do I sign up?

Oh wait, only one small problem – you need at least one year’s experience as a civilian government employee and an advanced degree in physical science, engineering or mathematics. Damn. Better luck next time.

To see the 116 photos NASA picked to explain our world to aliens, click HERE.