A robotic arm on Phoenix will scoop up soil samples and drop them into a sort of oven and heat them for analysis

The U.S. space agency's Mars probe is within weeks of landing near the Red Planet's north pole.  NASA scientists in Washington recently talked about what they call the mission's "seven minutes of terror." That is how long it will take for a probe to slow down enough to land on its surface. Once there, the Phoenix Mars Lander will dig into the Martian ice and soil, study the planet's atmosphere, and more.  VOA's Paul Sisco reports.