NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover actually uses the same chip as Apple’s 1998 iMac. Here’s why:

NASA's Mars Stabilization

NASA’s Mars Stabilization

You might think that NASA ‘s $ 2.7 billion Mars Perseverance rover is carrying the most advanced state chip to maintain the rugged feel and send the data back home from the Red Planet. But that is not the case! According to a new report the most advanced rover is running on a chip used in Apple’s 1998 iMacs.

This is because an advanced chip is actually damaging the specific operating conditions of Mars, reports a new scientist. Mars ‘s atmosphere offers far less protection from harmful radiation and charged particles than Earth’ s atmosphere.

“A severe explosion of radiation can severely damage a processor’s sensitive electronics,” according to the report.

Persistence has two computer models, one of which is a backup in case something goes wrong.

The rover features a single-core, 233MHz PowerPC 750 processor with just 10.4 million transistors that powered the original Mac launched in 1998. Even affordable smartphones today have more than 1,000 times more transistors.

The late Steve Jobs immediately reduced Apple’s major product lines when he became interim CEO in 1997. The company announced the iMac on May 6, 1998 and began delivering the iMac G3. on 15 August in the same year.

This is the same processor that NASA uses in its Curiosity rover.

The chip has a 200MHz clock speed 10 times faster than the old rovers, and with 2GB of flash memory, it offers eight times as much storage, reports The Verge. Durability also has 256MB of RAM.

Last month, NASA successfully found the Perseverance rover in a deep crack near Mars’ equator called Jezero.

The six-wheeled vehicle will now spend at least the next two years drilling into the local rocks, looking for evidence of past lives.

It is believed that Jezero maintained a large lake billions of years ago. And where there was water, it seems there could be life as well.

* Edited from IANS report

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