NASA employs a planetary protection officer to ensure compliance with the 1967 International Outer Space Treaty, preventing biological contamination during missions. This includes sterilizing spacecraft and avoiding sites with potential life. The cost of sterilization can be up to $100 million.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) employs nearly 18,000 civil service personnel, ranging from scientists to white collar workers, but perhaps the most unusual job at NASA is that of planetary protection officer. He or she is responsible for ensuring that all NASA missions comply with the 1967 International Outer Space Treaty. This treaty regulates precisely how scientific research may be conducted elsewhere in the solar system in order to prevent biological contamination. The Planetary Protection Officer implements policies so that all requirements are followed, such as sterilizing the spacecraft, not crashing into a site that may have life, and destroying the vehicle after the mission to prevent bacteria from contaminating the location.
Learn more about NASA’s Planetary Protection Program:
As of 2016, there are 104 countries that are parties to the 1967 International Outer Space Treaty.
Before NASA sent the *Viking* landers to Mars in 1976, the probes were “cooked” for several days to kill as many bacterial spores as possible.
Sterilizing a spacecraft before a mission can cost an additional $100 million (USD).
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