![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Astrobiology-Field-Lab.jpg/640px-Astrobiology-Field-Lab.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Astrobiology Field Laboratory
Canceled NASA Mars rover concept / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Astrobiology Field Laboratory?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The Astrobiology Field Laboratory (AFL) (also Mars Astrobiology Field Laboratory or MAFL) was a proposed NASA rover that would have conducted a search for life on Mars.[1][2] This proposed mission, which was not funded, would have landed a rover on Mars in 2016 and explore a site for habitat. Examples of such sites are an active or extinct hydrothermal deposit, a dry lake or a specific polar site.[3]
![]() Astrobiology Field Laboratory | |
Mission type | Astrobiology rover |
---|---|
Operator | NASA |
Website | at jpl.nasa.gov (recovered from archive) |
Mission duration | 1 Martian year (proposed) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Launch mass | 450 kg (990 lb) maximum |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 2016 (proposed) |
Had it been funded, the rover was to be built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, based upon the Mars Science Laboratory rover design, it would have carried astrobiology-oriented instruments, and ideally, a core drill. The original plans called for a launch in 2016,[4] however, budgetary constraints caused funding cuts.[5][6]