The photo is taken from a very oblique angle. Phoenix is actually about 20 km in front of the crater, but the viewing angle makes it look like it's inside. The crater is called "Heimdall" crater, and it's just NE of the landing site.
The robotic arm is scheduled to start digging on about sol 10 or thereabouts. After that, it really depends on how hard the soil is as to how long it will take to dig. Some samples of the loose soil will be delivered to the TEGA and MECA instruments before that, I believe.
Actually, you have that backwards. The Moon is covered in volcanic features. The dark "seas" are actually huge lava flood plains formed by volcanoes that were active for about a billion years after the Moon's formation. Mercury lacks these extensive volcanic features, likely because Mercury's crust is under compression making it harder for magma to break through and reach the surface. The compression is likely due to Mercury's massive iron core, which shrunk slightly as it cooled shortly after the planet formed.
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The photo is taken from a very oblique angle. Phoenix is actually about 20 km in front of the crater, but the viewing angle makes it look like it's inside. The crater is called "Heimdall" crater, and it's just NE of the landing site.
The robotic arm is scheduled to start digging on about sol 10 or thereabouts. After that, it really depends on how hard the soil is as to how long it will take to dig. Some samples of the loose soil will be delivered to the TEGA and MECA instruments before that, I believe.
Actually, you have that backwards. The Moon is covered in volcanic features. The dark "seas" are actually huge lava flood plains formed by volcanoes that were active for about a billion years after the Moon's formation. Mercury lacks these extensive volcanic features, likely because Mercury's crust is under compression making it harder for magma to break through and reach the surface. The compression is likely due to Mercury's massive iron core, which shrunk slightly as it cooled shortly after the planet formed.