Martian Spacesuit

This is the sort of news I've been waiting for since I was a little kid and my brother and I sneaked out of bed late at night to watch the TV version of Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles.

A prototype spacesuit designed for Martian exploration is undergoing tests in the North Dakota badlands. Weighing in at 50-pounds, the team is trying to maximise the mobility of the suit- when these protective garments are pressurised it makes it difficult for the astronauts to move their fingers. While NASA suits are pressurised to 4.3psi, the Martian suit is working at 1psi. The suit also comes with a blue "dust cover" which the team hope will help keep out the fine, talcum powder-like Martian particles. That will be a major problem not just for Martian explorers but any machinery they take with them. The major difference between this and previous spacesuit designs is that this is purely aimed at planetary exploration, rather than the zero-g of space.

Closer and closer to Barsoom.