Mars lander poised to bake soil, then test it

Space & Earth science / Space Exploration

This image released by NASA taken by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Surface Stereo Imager on Thursday, June 5, 2008, shows the Robotic Arm scoop containing a soil sample poised over the partially open door of the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer's number four cell, or oven. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University)

(AP) -- The Phoenix lander is getting ready to sniff the Martian soil for signs of life-friendly elements after scooping up a handful of dirt near the north pole, researchers said Friday.

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