New Job Opening at NASA: Planetary Protection Officer

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has posted a new job opening that could render every other job you’ve ever held boring and inconsequential.  Are you ready for this?

WANTED:  Planetary Protection Officer

ANNUAL SALARY:  $124k – $187k

APPOINTMENT TYPE:  Permanent

WORK SCHEDULE:  Full Time

CLOSING DATE:  August 14, 2017

As you can see, if you’re interested in this position, you’ve only got another two weeks to apply.  The position is posted at USAJOBS.gov and is a 100% bona fide position.  Because there are only two in the world today (one in Europe and one in the US), if you nail this baby down, there are some crazy bragging rights!

WOMAN:  Well, hello.

MAN:  Hi.  Just wondered if I could buy you a drink.

WOMAN:  I don’t know.   What do you do for a living?

MAN:  [smirking]  Well, what I do, only one other person in the world CAN.

WOMAN:  [doubtful]  Really?

MAN:  That’s right.  I work for NASA!

WOMAN [interested]  Oh!

MAN:  I’m the country’s Planetary Protection Officer!

Queue the Men In Black shades and cool music!

The position is currently held by a woman named Catharine Conley and her credentials for this position are really out there.  Since she is laterally moving to another department, the position is available for a new protection officer.

Some study infectious diseases and effective treatments. Others ensure that drugs, food, vehicles, or consumer products live up to their claims and don’t harm anyone.

But the concerns at NASA’s headquarters are, quite literally, extraterrestrial — which is why the space agency now has a job opening for “planetary protection officer.”

The gig? Help defend Earth from alien contamination, and help Earth avoid contaminating alien worlds it’s trying to explore.
While many space agencies hire planetary protection officers, they’re often shared or part-time roles.

In fact, only two such full-time roles exist in the world: one at NASA and the other at the European Space Agency.

That’s according to Catharine Conley, NASA’s only planetary protection officer since 2014. Business Insider interviewed Conley most recently in March.

“This new job ad is a result of relocating the position I currently hold to the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance, which is an independent technical authority within NASA,” Conley told Business Insider in an email on Tuesday.

This is really a more complex position over, say, a scientist working at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) where you’re dealing with diseases, viruses and bacteria that already exist on the planet.  While that’s not a slam dunk, the chances that you’d be able to find a similar matching illness or microbe are pretty good in order to go about researching a treatment or cure.

With the Planetary Protection Officer, you’re literally dealing with something that no one on Earth has ever dealt with before.  Think “Bones” McCoy on the Enterprise.  Every once in a while, the good doctor was completely stumped when it came to dealing with the myriad sicknesses out there in space.

Just think about the pressure!  You’re literally protecting an entire planet’s ecosystem from an invasion from outer space!

The position was created after the US ratified the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, specifically to support Article IX of the document.

Congress and the president have given NASA the green light to explore Europa, an icy, ocean-hiding, and potentially habitable moon of Jupiter. The goal of the initial $2.7 billion Europa Clipper mission is not to land on the moon, though, but to map its surface and look for clues about its hidden ocean and habitability.

Still, there’s a chance the robot could crash-land — so someone like Conley comes in to mitigate risk.

Conversely, the officer helps ensure something from another world, most imminently Mars, doesn’t contaminate Earth.

Did we mention the advanced degree in physical science, engineering, or mathematics? You should have that on your résumé, too.

The job comes with a “secret” security clearance, and noncitizens aren’t technically eligible, thanks to an executive order signed by President Gerald Ford in 1976.

If you’re one of those people who hates responsibility, I’d say this is definitely not the job for you!

However, if you’re ready to take on a challenge that few have ever attempted, one of those thrill-seeker types, this job might be right up your alley!

And don’t forget to shop for your new shades.

Source:  Business Insider / USAJOBS