Results of lab tests on soil samples dug up in the Red Planet's north pole have confirmed the soil contains ice water.

Scientists of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) here announced in a press conference Thursday the findings transmitted by the Phoenix Mars Lander, which analyzed disappearing bright chunks in Martian soil Wednesday.

"It is with great pride and a lot of joy that I announce today that we have found proof that this hard bright material is really water ice and not some other substance," said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, according to NASA's website.

Smith leads the Phoenix mission with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, managing the project.

"We have water," said William Boynton, also of the University of Arizona and the lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, the instrument aboard Phoenix that touched and tasted the icy soil.

NASA will extend the Phoenix mission for five more weeks so the spacecraft can further collect and analyze surface soil in other areas of Mars' north pole. The spacecraft landed on May 25 and originally had up to late August to conduct its mission. Its work has now been extended to Sept. 30.