WASHINGTON — NASA is looking to hire a planetary protection officer to protect the Earth and other planets from alien life.

According to a job posting on the official NASA website, prospective applicants need to be American and hold advanced knowledge of planetary protection.

For up to $187,000 a year, the PPO will be expected to avert the "organic-constituent and biological contamination in human and robotic space exploration." In layman terms, that means stopping aliens from polluting Earth and space-bound humans and robots from contaminating other planets.

The current PPO is Dr Catharine "Cassie" Conley. On her first day in the job she was given a pair of dark Ray-Ban sunglasses — just like those worn by agents in Men In Black.