Why must everything always be about aliens on the internet?The most recent example comes at the hands of a bunch of well-meaning journalists really blowing something out of proportion. Basically, NASA posted a job listing looking for a full-time "planetary protection officer" to join the agency—and breathless alien hilarity ensued.
SEE ALSO:Congressman completely wastes NASA's time by asking about aliensSome progressively more hysterical coverage of the ad suggested that this poor official is expected to keep us safe from alien invasion.
At a really fundamental level, that's kind of true. The Office of Planetary Protection is expected to help protect Earth from possible contamination by alien microbes that might hitch a ride back to our planet through sample return, but just stopping there misses the point.
One of the main jobs of a planetary protection officer is to help NASA make sure we're protecting the solar system -- and any life in it -- from us.
Via GiphySpacecraft heading to other objects in our solar system need to be as clean as possible, meaning that NASA has to be sure that the millions of microbes living on basically everything on this planet aren't on the hardware we're sending out to other places.
This makes a lot of sense, right? We don't want to just deliver our Earth microbes to other planets, possibly contaminating them and harming whatever other life might be there already.
We also want to be sure that we're not introducing some microbes that could actually thrive on another planet, totally screwing over the chance for life on that world to develop naturally.
NASA takes this really seriously.
Even the Cassini spacecraft -- which has been exploring Saturn in the vacuum of space for more than 10 years -- is going to make a death-dive into Saturn just to be sure that it doesn't contaminate any possibly life-harboring moons.
Via GiphySure, if we ever bring back material from another world like the moon or Mars, the planetary protection officer will need to think about some kind of game plan for if alien microbes did stow away back to Earth, but that's not in the cards right now.
So if you're applying to the job thinking you'll get to kick alien ass like Will Smith or Jeff Goldblum, think again. You'll be dealing in microbes, my friend, not telepathic monsters.
(责任编辑：時尚)
Did our grandparents have the best beauty advice?Those solar eclipse glasses you bought on Amazon might not protect your eyes after allJ.K. Rowling has a blazing reaction after Trump bans trans people from the military'Game of Thrones' brought back someone we've sorely missed, and we're screamingThis German startup wants to be your bank (without being a bank)You can now play 'Solitaire' and 'Tic
Google just added two new fun Easter eggs to its search results.
。You can now play。 Solitaire
。and
。 Ti
...[详细]Teen arrested over hundreds of bomb threats allegedly sold them for $30 on the dark web
An Israeli teenager named Michael Kadar stands accused of sending bomb threats to 245 Jewish Communi
...[详细]Couple picked their big fluffy dogs to be their best man and maid of honor at their wedding
Instead of choosing from your many friends to be in your wedding party, why not stick to man's best
...[详细]Couple picked their big fluffy dogs to be their best man and maid of honor at their wedding
Instead of choosing from your many friends to be in your wedding party, why not stick to man's best
...[详细]Visualizing July's astounding global temperature records
July set a rare temperature record during a year that is featuring off the charts warmth. The month
...[详细]'Game of Thrones' brought back someone we've sorely missed, and we're screaming
Spoilers below for 。 Game of Thrones 。Season 7, episode 5. So don't act like you haven't been warned.。
...[详细]Taylor Swift takes the stand in lawsuit claiming she was groped by radio DJ
Taylor Swift took the stand Thursday in the civil trial where she is accusing radio host David Muell
...[详细]New leaks reveal what could be the Galaxy Note 8's final specs
Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 has been a long time coming, but it launches later this month — and no
...[详细]Hiddleswift finally followed each other on Instagram after 3 excruciating days
On Aug. 13, 1961, Germany began construction of the Berlin Wall, perhaps the greatest symbol of the
...[详细]Multiplayer in 'No Man's Sky' gets fans' hopes up all over again
The latest update to 。 No Man's Sky
。contains the first hint at multiplayer the game has seen, and fan
...[详细]We asked linguists if Donald Trump speaks like that on purpose
Outlander's final season is still a long way off, thank goodness