Alex Kling

About

Alex Kling is a planetary scientist and aerospace engineer specializing in Mars atmospheric modeling and terraforming research, currently a researcher at the Astera Institute—a Berkeley-based nonprofit accelerating high-leverage science for human progress—where he develops innovative tools for planetary habitability, including an open-source screening platform to evaluate aerosol particles' greenhouse warming efficiency on Mars, aimed at enabling sustainable biospheres through engineered nanoparticles that forward-scatter sunlight while blocking infrared. Previously affiliated with NASA's Ames Research Center and the Mars Climate Modeling Center, Kling graduated from the French Institute for Aeronautics and Space (ISAE-SUPAERO) with expertise in space systems engineering, authored publications on Martian dust dynamics, gravity waves, ice-covered lakes in Gale Crater, and transient effects from rover landings, and collaborated on high-performance computing simulations for global and regional climate models. Passionate about multi-planetary futures, he contributes to interdisciplinary efforts blending atmospheric physics, flight dynamics, and geoengineering to unlock living worlds beyond Earth amid Astera's broader missions in climate intervention and space exploration.