A space ambassador could be appointed by the United Nations to act as the first point of contact for aliens trying to communicate with Earth。

　　Mazlan Othman, a Malaysian astrophysicist, is set to be tasked with co-ordinating humanity’s response if and when extraterrestrials make contact。

　　Aliens who landed on earth and asked: “Take me to your leader” would be directed to Mrs Othman。

　　She will set out the details of her proposed new role at a Royal Society conference in Buckinghamshire next week。

　　The 58-year-old is expected to tell delegates that the proposal has been prompted by the recent discovery of hundreds of planets orbiting other stars, which is thought to make the discovery of extraterrestrial life more probable than ever before。

　　Mrs Othman is currently head of the UN’s little known Office for Outer Space Affairs (Unoosa)。

　　In a recent talk to fellow scientists, she said: “The continued search for extraterrestrial communication, by several entities, sustains the hope that some day human kind will receive signals from extraterrestrials。

　　“When we do, we should have in place a coordinated response that takes into account all the sensitivities related to the subject. The UN is a ready-made mechanism for such coordination。”

　　Opinion is divided about how future extraterrestrial visitors should be greeted. Under the Outer Space Treaty on 1967, which Unoosa oversees, UN members agreed to protect Earth against contamination by alien species by “sterilising” them。

　　Mrs Othman is understood to support a more tolerant approach。

　　But Professor Stephen Hawking has warned that alien interlopers should be treated with caution。

　　He said: “I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. The outcome for us would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans。”

　　联合国将任命首位“星际外交官”，代表人类与试图和地球联系的外星人进行最初接触。

　　担当这一重任的是马来西亚天体物理学家马斯蓝•奥斯玛，她的职责是，假设有外星人接触地球时，协调人类的应对行动。

　　那些降临到地球，并要求“见领导”的外星人将由奥斯玛夫人接待。

　　她将于下周在英国白金汉郡举行的皇家学会会议上详细阐释她的新职责。

　　据称，现年58岁的奥斯玛将告诉与会代表，提议增设这一职位是由于近期发现了数百个新的恒星系，极大增加了发现外星生命的可能性。

　　奥斯玛夫人目前是联合国外太空事务办公室(Unoosa)最高负责人，这一机构并不为公众熟知。

　　她最近在与科学家友人的谈话中说：“很多机构都在不断寻找与外星生命沟通的渠道，很可能有一天我们会接收到来自外星人的信号。”

　　“当这一天到来时，我们必须能够立即作出合理有序的应对，将所有敏感因素考虑在内，而联合国正是一个现成的协调机构。”

　　有关未来如何接待外星访客一直存有争议。根据1967年由外太空事务办公室监督制定的《外太空条约》，联合国成员国同意通过使他们“绝育“的方法保护地球免于受到外星物种的污染。

　　据称奥斯玛夫人支持采用更加宽容的方式。

　　而斯蒂芬•霍金教授已提醒大家，应谨慎对待外星“擅入者”。

　　他说：“我猜他们会生活在巨大的飞船里，耗尽了本星球资源。他们闯入地球就像哥伦布发现新大陆，而我们的遭遇就像那些悲惨的印第安人。”