Actually it's the RAD750 that runs this machine. This is specifically hardened for the rigours of space and Mars. An ordinary 750CX would just curl up and die. I still have an iMac equipped with a 750CX and it seems so ancient compared to my Threadripper!
I know absolutely nothing about this, but a PowerPC processor from 1998 seems extreme. You'd think wrapping a normal CPU (or 10, all double checking each other) in gold mesh, lead or whatever would work just as well. Or maybe a couple of rare-earth magnets strategically placed to give the same type of magnetic barrier the Earth gives us would work?
I'll assume the people who just landed an SUV-sized robot on a dime from 12 light minutes away know what they're doing, but it's curious to me.
i can imagine the mars rover using a modern Apple processor: (message comes up on screen in nasa mission control) "this version of hardware is no longer supported. We will be rendering it useless in 5 months from now."
