The Mars Curiosity Rover is Basically a PowerMac G3 with Wheels

OS X Daily, William Pearson

We already knew that NASA used a lot of Macs during the Mars Curiosity landing event, but hardcore Mac geeks will be interested to know the Rover itself is running on both hardware and software that Apple used not only in consumer Macs of yesteryear, but that Apple still uses today!

In fact, the setup is so familiar that ExtremeTech calls the Mars Curiosity Rover “an Apple Airport Extreme… with wheels”, but for those who have been using Macs long enough, they’ll notice the Rover is basically like a PowerMac G3 from the late 90′s. These are some of the more interesting technical specs of the Curiosity Rover:

PowerPC 750 CPU running at 200Mhz, known as the G3 by Mac users
256MB of RAM
2GB flash storage (SSD)
17 1600×1200 (2-megapixel) cameras
VxWorks operating system, which also powers the Apple Extreme Wireless routers

There are also plenty of lasers, detectors, and other technical instruments on board, but that’s branching away from the side familiar to Apple fans. If you’re looking for some particularly geeky weekend reading, don’t miss ExtremeTech’s article on Rover’s technical side, it’s good stuff.

MacMotorcycle: The Most Creative Recycling of PowerMac G4′s You’ll Ever See

OSXDaily.com

Ever wondered what to do with that dusty old bricked Mac hardware? Rick H. is a Mac consultant from New Jersey who seems to have found the perfect answer for some old PowerMac G4′s; recycle them into saddlebags for his motorcycle!

As you can see, two PowerMac G4′s are mounted aside the seat to function as saddlebags. Each case is arranged so the natural door opens away from the Moto Guzzi, revealing perfectly functional storage compartments to store parts and even Rick’s MacBook Pro while he’s out on service calls. This is by far the most creative yet functional use of old PowerMac tower cases we’ve seen.