“What if life is not carbon-based? Can life exist as a gas or a plasma? Could planets or stars in some sense be alive? What about an interstellar cloud? Could life exist on such a small or large scale, or move so fast or so slowly that we wouldn't recognize it? Could you have an intelligent virus?”

American astrobiologist

David H. Grinspoon is an American astrobiologist. He served as Senior Scientist for Astrobiology Strategy at NASA from 2023 to 2025, and earlier held the inaugural Baruch S. Blumberg NASA, Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology in 2012 to 2013. He is known for work at the intersection of astrobiology and NASA strategy, with roles that connect scientific research and public scholarship. His writing and public remarks often reflect that field, though the facts here identify him mainly through his scientific appointments.