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Our Man In Black
bot writes "A recent Slate article covers the onerous responsibilites of the Planetary Protection Officer. He is tasked with preventing contamination of earth by alien organisms, and 'forward contamination' (contamination of other planets with earth germs). There is also a published protocol (PDF link) for avoiding Martian bugs."
That would be the job to have, if only for the right to list "Planetary Protection Office" on your resume.
...
Will of Smith?
James T. Kirk.
--AC
Okay. Anybody suddenly thinking of the Andromeda Strain now? :)
Don't the Men In Black remove their fingerprints? But what if this guy makes a bomb that will kill us all?
Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
He is tasked with preventing contamination of earth by alien organisms
Couldn't he just watch this movie?
- Tony
"sterilize, sterilize. . ."
Wow, this could be an old Star Trek Movie. . .
...it's too late! The ailiens are already here! See?! They left this mark on me! I must do their bidding...
The Cheese Stands Alone.
First I find out that being a spy isn't all about gadgets and women. Then I find out being an archaeologist isn't all about running from traps and nazis'. Now I find out that protecting the earth from alien life forms doesn't involve talking to alien dogs and bug guns.
WHY DO YOU LIE TO ME, HOLLYWOOD!!!
*sob*
What better way to pick up chicks than "It is my civil duty to protect you from alien lifeforms."
Since 1998, the space agency's planetary protection officer, or PPO, has been John D. Rummel, an astrobiologist and a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve. This is actually his second tour of duty at NASA
So, he's protecting which planet from the threat of contamination from whom exactly? Ok, I'm sure NASA would be wise to think of the consequences of landing man-made things on Mars, but as long as real flesh-and-blood humans don't set foot on the planet, isn't bathing probes in radiation enough to render their outer shells and innards sterile?
I mean, it's like if I hired a lawyer for when I plan to be very rich, but I'm not yet and yet I pay the lawyer right now. How bizarre, I say having a full time "planetary protection officer" is a feel-good-look-good measure that's just a waste of taxpayer's dollars in reality.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
...what's his letter?
Perhaps.... N?
webpage
Criminals have already tried removing their fingerprints already.
The resulting lack of fingerprints and scaring is actually more distinctive than the criminals original fingerprints.
Philip
Signatures are broken
"protocol for avoiding Martian bugs"?!?
Didn't NASA just spend a couple hundred million bucks trying to *FIND* Martian Bugs? Crap, when a few ice crystals were found, JPL wet itself. Had we found an actual bug, who knows what kind of party would have been thrown?
There are 01 kinds of cars in the world. The General Lee, and everything else.
*--BigMan--- Time flies like an arrow.. but personally I prefer a nice glass of wine!
I thought it said something to the effect of "he is tasked with spreading Earth germs to other worlds". Talk about spreading your seed!
bash: rtfm: command not found
"Rummel has two primary tasks: to ensure that outbound spacecraft aren't contaminated with biological material from Earth "
Humans are biological material. So much for the manned mission to Mars.
I think this person has an impossible job.
Years later, astronaut Buzz Aldrin said in a television interview that the mobile quarantine trailer in which the Apollo 11 crew was isolated had one serious flaw: Ants appeared to be going into and out of the trailer (37). If there were any Moon bugs, they would have gotten out with the ants. -- from The dilemma of Mars sample return
Add to that all the meteorites that fail to stop at the agricultural station on their way in, and I'd think the Earth is already pretty contaminated.
I'm not saying that he should not try to reduce cross-contamination, only that its not an easy job.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
So is he Raven Alder's boyfriend or what?
+++
Raven: Pick up Cheetos on the way home!
MiB: Yes dear...
Raven: And don't forget the Mountain Dew!
MiB: No dear...
Raven: Last time you forgot the Mountain Dew!
MiB: Yes dear. Sorry dear...
Raven: And I need new boot laces!
MiB: Yes dear...
Raven: LONG bootlaces, you retard! The last pair you got were only 12 feet long! I need LONG laces! Jesus!
MiB: Yes dear...
Raven: Oh, and pickup a copy of 'Firewalls for Dummies'! But make sure they put it in a brown paper bag this time! When you bought me 'Linux for Dummies' you carried it around in the open! I had to tell people it was for my mom!
MiB: Yes dear...
So what now? When I get back from my trip to Mars am I going to be met with a trafic jam and need to get my shipped checked for aliens hidding in the engine, and stashes of martian drugs?
I think it'll be a bit hard to prevent when sending people. And no doubt there will be some jerks protesting a Mars landing on the infintesmal chance that there *might* be some particles of pre-animate matter laying around just waiting to get wiped out by human diseases.
Mix the failings of Usenet with the shortcomings of the World Wide Web and the result is slashdot.
No, but Invasion of the Body Snatchers comes to mind.
It's interesting from the perspective that when the fungus comes to earth it is already too late to do anything about it.
I haven't seen the latest version though.
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
We should outlaw fingerprints! This way, only outlaws will have fingerprints!
And one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. Good book that I read later. Has that great line in it for getting into the underground base, which I can't remember correctly at the moment.
Other pages to checkout:
http://sqn.com/andromst.html
So is this guy considered a respectable functionary at Nasa who provides insurance over an uncertain but scientifically-possible threat? ...
Or is he the guy who got stuck with the weird job? The sort of post they give someone who got caught stinking of the restroom one time too many?
Do not confuse "Freedom of Choice" with "Free Will".
The need to prevent forward contaimination is a legitament concern. What happens in the future when we do find some kind of organism on mars, and it simply came from earth?
Plus, we simply do not know enough about the planet from our limited excursions to discount anything.
Oh my, I think Dave just turned into a bear.
Well, if you read the article carefully you'll learn that the UN's COSPAR Panel on Planetary Protection is actually responsible for setting the policies -- so, the rest of the world is "in on this". This guy does happen to chair that panel; however, in his capacity as NASA's Planetary Protection Officer, his only role is to implement guidelines established under the auspices of the UN.
I saw him not too long ago since he participated in the Mars Terraforming Debate in Mountain View CA covered on Slashdot. It's great to see that NASA not only has someone on the job, but they are participating in public conversations about these questions. Very smart, funny guy. This must be one of the coolest job titles on the planet.
The NASA Requirements for Protecting Life on Other Bodies could be the First Draft of the Prime Directive:
As indicated, dealing with simple life forms does not present many of the issues addressed in the Prime Directive:
Only Women Bleed (Sex, Sharia remix)
If he'll make racist comments like Will "gettin jiggy widdit" Smith and sing that "wiki wiki wah wah" tune ...
... oh whatever.
Personally I welcome our new martian
This is #17 in The worst jobs in science list.
Greenpeace sinks ships and stages disruptive protests, but I'll bet they've never so much as sent a nice thank you card to their Planetary Protection Officer.
May we never see th
oh, wait...
Imagine what he's got to do to get fired from such a position.
Only if you look arabic
Well, as impossible as the job might be, this position wasn't around during the Apollo days. The article clearly states that NASA didn't consider Lunar bugs to be much of an issue, since it is a very hostile place for life. It wasn't until the Viking landers leaving for Mars that this position was developed.
IANAL, but I play one on
The resulting lack of fingerprints and scaring is actually more distinctive than the criminals original fingerprints.
I'm not an expert, but I'd say when the criminal runs up to the cops and shouts "BOO!", that it pretty much gives the game away.
Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
welcome our ant overlords
I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
I think its was sad ignorance; articles like this one show that people who think NASA is that stupid are morons themselves.
They are not extraterrestrial bugs.
They are transgenetic bugs from USofA's laboratories.
open4free
So i guess thats bye bye dennis rodman!
We will make this false eXperiment and somebody could follow the NASA's protocol.
Mommy!! Mommy!! i've found a RAT bug!!! call to NASA!!!
... and everyone is keeling over from martianthrax, we can sue the guy?
that's cool, I guess... ya,that should work....
Ritual hazing in the MIB agency or the alternative to desk duty when on suspension if u'r an MIB agent?
I do program my own bugs, thank you very much. I don't think we need some outshored martians to do it.
"I think this line is mostly filler"
> Imagine what he's got to do to get fired from such a position.
He'd have to... wiz on the electric fence?
I thought we were going to take mars over.
The second more important is the NASA's protocol approved *only* for USA.
Third, it's the another UnitedNations's protocol approved for the world.
open4free
The article mentions the "Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Bodies". So does our space officer have to write "ToPGtAoSitEaUoOSItMaOB" on memos he writes in reference to it? And how would one pronounce such an acronymn?
"an astrobiologist and a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve"
Umm, do you see the relationship? What kind of education do you need to be a commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve? For that matter, what is the education to be an astrobiologist? If you ask me, This guy found a good way to make a few extra bucks from NASA. Wouldn't be surprised if he has a buddy somewhere in NASA who somehow got him this job.
I am not impressed.
Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what's right. --Isaac Asimov
I would feel bad for this guy whenever he gets stopped by a cop......
Cop: Are you are aware you were doing 45 in a 40 - zone?
The NASA guy: ummm. no, but if you say so...
Cop: Where were you going ?
The NASA guy: home - I'm going home from work
Cop: So, where do you work?
The NASA guy: I'm the planetary protection officer - it's my job to protect the earth from interplanetary biologicals and contamination
Cop: OK buddy, we're going downtown....
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
you are over-generalizing. Three lefts make a right only if they are right angle lefts (or if the sum of the angles of the three lefts equals the sum of three right angles).
Heh, heh. Karma burning time.
I finally feel safe now.
she must be coz she wears black clothes and she uses computers. all goth chicks who use computers are 1337.
modding this down as offtopic? christ! what a fucking anal retentive fuckwad!
:-)
That NASA have spend astronimical amounts of money only to fail to discover anything more dramatic than a prehistoric sea on mars.
Despite, the possibility to the contrary, and the fact that it fits with the current scientific trend of "you are not special", there is actually a good chance that there is no life on mars.
I understood that all of the evidence of life on mars (ie the rocks with 'fossils' in) were found to be aincient air bubbles or something.
I quite like the idea of life on other planets, and "forward contamination" sounds like a bad thing... but really! is there anything that this man can do to protect us against aliens currently have only been found in science fiction books?
I bet he reads slashdot alot at work (flame me!).
AFAIK, there's no pre-crime (heh! minority report! no, I'm not ADD) record of fingerprints either, unless your birth certificate has them (in which case they have palm prints too.
I seem to have some memory of seeing my birth certificate with foot prints on it. Maybe I'm crazy.
I, for one, welcome our new microbial overlords.
> terraforming Mars & Venus... Anyone want to buy some cheap land??
Sure. As soon as you can have it surveyed and marked by a licensed professional.
Are they building quarantine facilities at Guantanamo Bay? Certainly we must be "at war" with invasive alien lifeforms.