9-year-old applies for alien-fighting job, NASA responds
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A 9-year-old boy answered a call from NASA to protect Earth from aliens - and got an encouraging response to his job application.
"My name is Jack Davis and I would like to apply for the planetary protection officer job," the fourth-grader wrote in a letter. "I may be nine but 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 and alien movies I can see."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The job advertisement for a planetary protection officer explained that space missions sometimes introduce Earth organisms into other parts of the solar system.
In technical terms, the officer would assist with the "avoidance of organic-constituent and biological contamination in human and robotic space exploration."
Letter from 9-year-old Jack and the response from NASA for the alien-fighting position. (NASA)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In bolstering his case for the job, Jack explained in his letter, "I have also seen the show Marvel Agents of Shield and hope to see the movie Men in Black. I am great at video games. I am young, so I can learn to think like an Alien."
Although the position "may not be in real-life what the title conjures up," NASA said it promotes "the responsible exploration of our solar system by preventing microbial contamination."
Jack received a letter from Dr. James L. Green, the director of NASA's planetary science division, saying the officer position was "very important work."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"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!" Green's letter says.
He also got a call from NASA's planetary research director, Jonathan Rall, to congratulate him on his interest.