What are Planetary Protection Officers, and what do they do?

John D. Rummel is the Planetary Protection Officer for NASA, in this video (linked because hub pages doesn't support this video format), he discusses exactly what it is that a planetary protection officer does. That is, he is in charge of protecting against something called 'panspermia' which is a great word to know. Panspermia is the act of life, or biological materials, being deposited on another planet or moon, either by comet, or in this case, spacecraft. While this may sound silly, it is actually a major concern. While we know that advanced, multicellular life does not exist in the places we have looked, it is entirely possible that there may be some sort of virus or small single celled organism that may prove infectious to earth bound life. In fact, an antigen (something that stimulates an immunological reaction) does not even need to be living. Non-organic antigens exist all over the world. Those who watch medical dramas may be familiar with heavy metal poisoning, the poster child of non-organic antigens. This is not a recent development however, NASA has been concerned with alien contaminations since, and probably before, the famous Apollo missions.

NASA, during the Apollo missions was very concerned with possible contact with alien people. To protect Earth from a microbiological invasion, they commissioned four Mobile Quafantine Facilities (MQFs). Each one was fully outfitted with a kitchen, food, restroom, and all the other things needed for living. The was no need for something this extreme, and the men behind it had probably watched a few too many of the science fiction movies that were popular in the day. The purpose of these things was to isolate the astronauts from the rest of the planet, to make sure they had not brought any outer space diseases with them. Interestingly enough, one that was thought to be destroyed was rediscovered in March of 2007. Shown below, this MQF was found in an unpopulated region of western Alabama. Begin spinning those conspiracy theories now! If you would like to see one, there is one on display at the Udvar-hazy Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia.