Mars Space Suit Trials in North Dakota

AbsoluteZero writes to tell us Space.com is reporting that a new spacesuit prototype being designed for Mars exploration is currently being tested in North Dakota. From the article: "The Mars spacesuit is the culmination of 14 months of work by faculty and students with the North Dakota Space Grant Consortium, which received $100,000 from NASA to develop the prototype. The local public is invited to view the Mars spacesuit in action on Sat. May 6, weather permitting, at its North Dakota test site."

Comments

Just my luck

[Carpe PM]

I would have been there, since I live in North Dakota, but oddly enough I was in outer space at the time. How ironic.

Re:Confusion

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a spacesuit, it shouldn't be affected by bad weather

Because if there's one thing a mars space suit needs, it's the ability to function in a rainstorm?

Planetary spacesuit?

[Tx]

"We wanted to really concentrate on the suit to improve mobility and to create a planetary spacesuit instead one for zero [gravity],"

Surely if it's used in space, it's a spacesuit. But if it's for use on a planet rather than in space, it should be called something else. I propose we call it a Hazardous EnVironment or HEV suit ;).

Re:Confusion

[Gnavpot]

I dont know about you, but I'd rather not stand outside during a lightning storm in a big suit with lots of nice metal on it.

I dont know about you, but I'd rather not stand outside during a lightning storm in a big suit withOUT lots of nice metal on it.

Re:"Weather permitting" in North Dakota!?!

[DrEldarion]

No, the gag is that people are invited on May 6th, but this wasn't posted until the 7th...

It eludes me,

[diaper biscuit]

why anyone would take a space suit to court. Let alone in North Dakota! Or maybe someone is suing the Space around Mars, hence "space suit".

Re:Confusion

[TenLow]

So how are they going to protect the spectators on mars?

Makes perfect sense

[OzPhIsH]

To me this makes perfect sense, as they only have to really be sure the suit will work at the location that the landing will be filmed at.

Re:Wrong place to test it

[tverbeek]

I think they should test it in Antartica, not in North Dakota.

They probably wanted to test it in an environment without a lot of people. So North Dakota won.

Hoax!

[bettlebrox]

It's a hoax! They're actually really on Mars and trying to pretend they're in North Dakota. It's easy to tell because of the shadows and when he hit the golfball it so obviouly was in a lighter gravity. And one could tell that they used filters to make the lighting look earthlike ...