This color image, released by NASA on May 26, 2008, shows the American flag and a mini-DVD on the Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft's deck, which is about one meter above the Martian surface.

The robotic arm's first movement was delayed by one day when Tuesday's commands from Earth did not get all the way to the Phoenix lander on Mars. The commands went to NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) as planned, but the orbiter's radio system for relaying commands to Phoenix temporarily shut off.

Wednesday morning's uplink to Phoenix was planned with NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter as the relay. "We are using Odyssey as our primary link until we have a better understanding of what happened with MRO," Goldstein said.