In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility a technician takes a measurement on the Phoenix Mars Lander.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, a technician takes a measurement on the Phoenix Mars Lander. The spacecraft is on display for the media. Phoenix is scheduled to launch Aug. 3 from Launch Pad 17-A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing on Mars is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett