Today I and 11 other scientists describe in Nature Astronomy how recent breakthroughs in launch capabilities, climate, and synthetic biology demand a new assessment of the feasibility of terraforming Mars. Edwin Kite Dr. Nina Lanza Charles Cockell Ramses Ramirez John Cumbers

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NEW: Fascinating paper on Mars terraforming in Nature Astronomy Yes, it can be done. "New techniques have emerged that could raise Mars’s average global temperature by tens of degrees within a few decades." nature.com/articles/s4155…

How to terraform Mars. On the cover of Nature Astronomy today. Erika Alden DeBenedictis

Jason Kelly This is exactly our pitch for Pioneer Labs - pioneer-labs.org. We've got some writing up on the challenges, including growing organisms in a mars-simulation media of our own design and fun data-driven evolution tools. See pioneerlabs.substack.com

Terraforming session AGU (American Geophysical Union) conference: P008 - Creating sustainable habitats and ecosystems beyond Earth Conveners: Edwin Kite (Astera Institute + The University of Chicago ), Nina Lanza (Los Alamos National Laboratory ), Robin Wordsworth (Harvard University), and Chuanfei Dong (Boston University)

SEAS researchers have demonstrated that they can grow green algae inside shelters made out of bioplastics in Mars-like conditions, a first step toward designing sustainable habitats in space that won’t require bringing materials from Earth. bit.ly/4esG2ZD

"Let's go take a close look. We trained for this moment team." ...This is what I would have loved to have been able to say in an alternate timeline. Even better: I want us to start sending interstellar objects that will one day traverse through another solar system.

A lab experiment that simulated Mars conditions showed that green algae can grow in plastic containers made from the same algae, setting the stage for a self-sustaining system to build habitats on the planet newscientist.com/article/248665…

Was Mars Doomed To Be A Desert? Study Proposes A New Explanation astrobiology.com/2025/07/was-ma… #astrobiology #Mars

Dunaliella tertiolecta, a species of green algae, grew inside chambers made of the bioplastic polylactic acid. sciencenews.org/article/biopla…

New paper: "Carbonate formation and fluctuating habitability on Mars", Nature, open access: rdcu.be/euuTb . Inspired by data from Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover

A paper in nature presents a model of climate evolution on Mars that offers an explanation for past fluctuating water availability on the Red Planet. go.nature.com/4exmlzY