As we watched NASAput a rover on Marslast month , it definitely seemed like the federal agency had to be using some sort of high - tech processor in its motorcar . Surely the rover is build on something much more sinewy than the ingredient in gadget us civilians use , right ? But while NASA is technically using a specialized processor to power the Perseverance rover , it ’s not far removed from the world of consumer electronics — about 23 years ago .
NewScientistreports that the Perseverance rover is powered by a PowerPC 750 central processor , which was used in Apple ’s original 1998 iMac G3 — you remember , the iconic , colorful , see - through background . If the PowerPC name vocalize familiar , it ’s probably because those are the RISC CPUs Apple used in its computer before switching to Intel . ( Although now the fellowship isback on the RISC gearing with its homegrown M1 C.P.U. . )
The PowerPC 750 was a single - burden , 233MHz processor , and compare to the multi - core , 5.0GHz - plus frequencies modern consumer chips can achieve , 233MHz is incredibly slow . But the 750 was the first to incorporate active branch prediction , which is still used in advanced central processing unit today . essentially , the CPU architecture is making an cultivate guess on what instructions the CPU is croak to process as a way to improve efficiency . The more information that ’s process , the good the cow dung have at predicting what it needs to do next .
A high-res image showing Perseverance seconds before reaching the Martian surface.Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
However , there ’s a major difference between the iMac ’s CPU and the one inside the Perseverance rover . BAE Systems invent the radiation sickness - indurate reading of the PowerPC 750 , dub RAD750 , which can withstand 200,000 to 1,000,000 Rads and temperatures between −55 and 125 degrees Celsius ( -67 and 257 degrees Fahrenheit ) . Mars does n’t have the same type of atmosphere as Earth , which protects us from the the Dominicus ’s rays , so one flash of sunlight and it ’s all over for the Mars wanderer before its dangerous undertaking can begin . Each one costs more than $ 200,000 , so some extra protective covering is necessary .
“ A charged mote that ’s cannonball along through the galaxy can pass through a equipment and wreak mayhem , ” James LaRosa at BAE Systems tell NewScientist . “ It can literally rap electrons informal ; it can do electronic disturbance and signal spike within the circuit . ”
But why employ a processor older enough to think of when Eve 6 released its first album ? It has nothing to do with toll — those one-time processors are the good ones for the job because they are reliable . NASA ’s Orion spacecraft , for instance , used the same RAD750 processor .
Motorola PowerPC 750 processor with off-die L2 cache on the CPU module from a Power Mac G3.Photo: Henrik Wannheden (Other)
“ Compared to the [ Intel ] Core i5 in your laptop , it ’s much slower … it ’s in all likelihood not any faster than your smartphone , ” Matt Lemke , NASA ’s deputy manager for Orion ’s avionics , toldThe Space Reviewback in 2014 . “ But it ’s not about the speed as much as the toughness and the reliability . I need to check that it will always knead . ”
Taking that into consideration , it ’s sensible that NASA would choose older technology over the new stuff . After all , when you ’re spending$2.7 billion to land a automaton on Mars , it ’s authoritative that your technical school is reliable enough to stand the test of time — down to the tiniest soldered circuits . presently , the RAD750 powers around 100 satellite revolve Earth , which includes GPS , imaging , and weather data as well as various military satellite . Not one of those has failed , consort to LaRosa .
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