After a journey that took more than 10 months to complete, NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander prepares to begin a three-month mission on the Red Planet. The Mars Lander is set to enter the Martian atmosphere on May 25, at the speed of 13,000 mph, which will be reduced to 5 mph in just 7 minutes, the time scientists said it will take Phoenix to reach the surface of the planet. The landing is scheduled to take place at approximately 7:53 p.m. EDT.

The mission was launched on August 4, 2007 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, with a landing site established at 68 degrees north latitude, 233 degrees east longitude, in Vastitas Borealis, or Mars’ arctic plains. The primary mission will be of 90 Martian days (the equivalent of 92 Earth days) at temperatures of minus 73 C to minus 33 C (minus 100 F to minus 28 F).

The Phoenix mission will not be limited to studying the northern permafrost region, “but takes the next step in Mars exploration by determining whether this region, which may encompass as much as 25 percent of the Martian surface, is habitable,” as Peter Smith, Phoenix principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson, explained.

With the help of high-resolution images (HiRISE) from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance orbiter, Phoenix should be able to have a safe landing, avoiding any rocks that could spoil the impact with the Red Planet or prevent the solar panels from opening.

The Mars Lander’s mission is to investigate a site in the north of Mars (for the first time, a mission will reach so far north, NASA scientists unveiled), where it will examine the soil in place at the surface, at the icy layer and in between, and will take samples for further analysis.

With the help of instruments onboard, Phoenix will check for water and carbon-containing compounds by heating soil samples and examining the resulted vapors. This will be a key element in establishing if the Red Planet is a setting for past or future forms of life, despite the theories unveiled earlier this year according to which the high concentrations of minerals constitute a very harsh environment, even for the toughest microbes.

Those theories didn’t completely cut the chances of life on Mars, but they pretty much narrowed them down to almost nothing. However, Phoenix’s mission on Mars is expected to unveil what its predecessors were unable to, based on an essential biotic element: water.

The Spirit Mission, which was originally planned for a mission of 90 Martian days of surveillance, but turned into 1,400 Martian days, gave scientists a glimpse of hope that life indeed could be possible on Mars. In March 2007, images of a patch of soil rich in silica led scientists to the conclusion that water played an essential role in creating it

Furthermore, scientists assumed that the water could have originated from a hot-spring, similar with a geyser, or from a fumarole in which acidic streams rise through the cracks. Either way, scientists had high hopes that this is one step in proving that life on Mars is possible.

Phoenix’s mission is to establish whether conditions on the site ever have been favorable to microbial life, including answering one vital question: does this planet offer Carbon-based chemicals, which are potentially building blocks and food for life. Based on composition and texture of the soil above the ice, the Mars Lander could also establish whether the ice ever melts here, in response to long-term climate cycles.