05 August 2017, India:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is looking for someone who will protect the Earth from Aliens, it plans to hire planetary protection officer.
A report in Business Insider said only two such full-time roles exist in the world: one at Nasa and the other at the European Space Agency. Catharine Conley is Nasa’s only planetary protection officer since 2014.
Amidst all the candidates, a 9-year-old kid named Jack Davis applied for the job and wrote a letter to NASA. The full text of Davis’ letter, which NASA posted in a press release on Friday, reads:
Dear NASA,
My name is Jack Davis and I would like to apply for the planetary protection officer job. I may be nine but I think I would be fit for the job. One of the reasons is my sister says I am an alien. Also, I have seen almost all the space movies and alien movies I can see. I have also seen the show Marvel Agents of Shield and hope to see the movie Men in Black. I am great at vidieo [sic] games. I am young, so I can learn to think like an alien.
Sincerely,
Jack Davis
Guardian of the Galaxy
Fourth Grade
NASA was amused by the letter and was quick to respond. It too wrote a letter to Jack stating,
Dear Jack,
I hear you are a ‘Guardian of the Galaxy’ and that you’re interested in being a NASA Plantary Protection Officer. That’s great!
Our Plantary Protection Officer position is really cool and is very important work. It’s about protecting Earth from tiny microbes when we bring back samples from the Moon, asteroids and Mars. It’s also about protecting other planets and moons from our germs as we responsibly explore the Solar System.
We are always looking for bright future scientists and engineers to help us, so I hope you will study hard and do well in school. We hope to see you here at NASA one of these days!
Sincerely,
Dr. James L. Green
Director, Planetary Science Division
NASA’s planetary research director, Jonathan Rall made a phone call to Jack and congratulated him on his interest in the most bizarre job opening- Planetary Protection Officer.
The three-year position, which may extend to five, was created after the US signed the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 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.”
If you think you have what it takes, you can apply for the job here. It offers a hefty salary between $124,406 and $187,000. (Source- Business Insider, Images- NASA, Cover image- Pinterest)
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