NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander has positively identified water in a soil sample taken for analysis this Wednesday, confirming earlier suspicions that the Martian soil contains water ice. A special instrument aboard Phoenix obtained water vapors after heating the samples for analysis.

Considering that the long-awaited Mars water evidence has finally been confirmed, NASA decided to extend the initial mission of the Mars Lander with an extra 30 days from the original three-month schedule, which means the Mars investigations will continue until September 30.

“Phoenix is healthy and the projections for solar power look good,” said Michael Meyer, chief scientists for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The plan is to take full advantage of having this resource in one of the most interesting locations on Mars, he added.

This week, for the first time ever, the Mars Lander “touched and tasted” Martian water, confirming earlier observations of water ice by the Mars Odyssey orbiter, as William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, pointed out.

The Phoenix Lander scoops for evidence of water in a very harsh environment, with temperatures dropping below -170 degrees F (-110 degrees C) at night. Previous, as well as current missions on Mars have sent back numerous images that point to traces of water presence in the planet’s history.

Phoenix is analyzing the chemistry and mineralogy of the Martian soil with the help of the advanced instruments onboard in order to better understand the history of water on Mars, and why not, give us hope that the fourth planet from the Sun may one day support life.

It is still hard to explain the absence of liquid water on Mars, but some scientists believe that it was the result of climate change over billions of years, as the Red Planet gradually began to lose its atmosphere. That however doesn’t mean water has completely disappeared, as it can now be found beneath the surface, but this time as water ice.

The first solid evidence of water analyzed on Wednesday was taken from a trench approximately 2 inches deep. NASA explained that upon reaching that depth, Phoenix’s robotic arm hit a hard layer of frozen soil. The first two attempts to take samples were doomed to fail, causing the Wednesday sample to be exposed to the air for two days. However, this allowed for the some of the water to vaporize, making the soil easier to handle.

“Mars if giving us some surprises,” said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona. “We’re excited because surprises are where discoveries came from,” he explained, adding that one of the surprises is how the soil is behaving, different from all simulation testing done. “The ice-rich layers stick to the scoop when poised in the sun above the deck…That has presented challenges for delivering samples, but we’re finding ways to work with it and we’re gathering lots of information to help us understand this soil.”

Images from the Mars Odyssey in 2002 show significant amounts of water ice underneath the surface of the planet, in the northern arctic region. Scientists suspect that deeper underground there may be some hidden reservoirs of liquid water, whose presence is supported by warmer temperatures and pressures.

Although liquid water does not currently exist on the surface of Mars, water is still present in two states, solid and gas, just below the surface and in the atmosphere respectively. The interactions between the solid water ice and the gaseous water vapor are believed to be responsible for the changes in the weather and climate on Mars.

This is the reason why Phoenix became the first mission to collect meteorological data in the Martian arctic. Scientists will use the newly obtained information to establish the climate in the planet’s past and predict future weather processes.

In addition to analyzing soil samples, the Mars Lander collected data on clouds, dust, winds, temperatures and pressures in the atmosphere, while trying to better understand the processes in the Martian arctic region.

With the help of the instruments onboard, scientists will try to establish through detailed analysis whether the environment below the surface of the planet is or has even been favorable to microbial life.

Since May 25, when it landed on Mars, Phoenix has been analyzing the soil and air with the help of a chemistry lab, TEGA, a microscope, a conductivity probe and cameras onboard. The mission is looking for clues in the atmosphere, as well as at ground level.

By submitting various soil samples to a series of chemical experiments, Phoenix is looking for essential life-giving elements, such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and hydrogen, in order to establish the degree of habitability in the polar environment on Mars.