Apollo Guidance Computer Takes 10.3 Seconds to Complete a Double SHA-256 Hash

The Apollo guidance computer was programmed in 2019 to run the Bitcoin mining algorithm and took 10.3 seconds to complete one double SHA-256 hash. According to Odaily, the device was used for Apollo mission navigation and engine control and had about 4KB of memory. Computer scientist Ken Shirriff’s team verified the program using the 286,819th mined block but did not receive any Bitcoin. At the time, Bitcoin network hash rate was about 65 EH/s, and the device would have needed roughly a million times the age of the universe on average to find one block. After the difficulty adjustment on September 5, Bitcoin network hash rate rose to 934 EH/s and mining difficulty increased to 127.45 trillion, about 14 times higher than in 2019. Based on that calculation, the device would now need about 13 million times the age of the universe on average to find one block.