NASA is hiring a new 'planetary protection officer' to defend Earth from alien matter, and the pay is a six-figure salary: as much as $187,000 a year.
When we are not sure whether aliens exist, why are we still hiring staff for protecting Earth? I do understand we have to take precautions. But when we don't have any proof why spend $187,000 a year?
Source: Nasa [sic] hiring new 'planetary protection officer' to defend Earth from alien matter - Times of India, Aug 3, 2017
While a NASA spokesman said the planetary protection officer position 'is critical to ensuring the protection of potential future human expeditions to Mars' and 'playing a critical role in human space exploration', some believe the position is 'wasting taxpayers' money'.
This debate reminded me of the time when the United States launched the SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) program in 1983. It was a space-based ballistic missile defense system developed
Planetary protection officer: NASA is hiring for the job, which comes with a six-figure salary

Planetary protection is a set of protocols adopted by NASA to avoid biological contamination of other places in the universe with earthly microbes, or vice versa, while also allowing for the potential return of samples or life to Earth.

If you have a deep and abiding interest in protecting Earth from microbes that may be floating around out there in space, then NASA