[RockyMtnMan]

The hardware on Mars isn't using Java but all the intelligence on the ground is using Java ;-).

I didn't see any mention of what software was actually running on the rover, just the hardware, so it still could have a VM on the rover. Java runs on all platforms unlike Windows.

[Mr. K]

The Java joke is that it is supposed to be "write once, run anywhere"- in real life it is "Write once, DEBUG everywhere"

.NET will replace Java in 2 years