The Phoenix Lander will touch down on the planet on 26 May after a 422-million-mile journey through space, with scientists from the two UK institutions being based at NASA's Arizona Science Operations Centre on landing day.
Contained on the lander are innovative micro-machined substrates, which will allow Martian dust to undergo detailed microscopic analysis.
The UK team spent months developing a way to study the planet's soil at previously-unseen resolutions.
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Dr Tom Mike, who heads the UK Phoenix team at Imperial College London, said: "Our sophisticated tools will allow us to look at the highest level of detail, both with imaging and chemical analysis, of any mission to date.
He also revealed that the findings from the mission will provide further information on whether Mars has ever hosted life.
After the landing, Phoenix will operate for between three and five months, gathering data from the polar region of the planet.
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