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—where he develops 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. He contributes to efforts blending atmospheric physics, flight dynamics, and geoengineering to unlock living worlds beyond Earth amid Astera's missions in climate intervention and space exploration.
