Scientists have been working literally around the clock to fix the 18 year old Hubble telescope which encountered some technical difficulties making it to shut down and operate in safe mode.

Apparently, all the hard work did pay off, as researchers from Goddard announced that the telescope could be fully functional by Saturday. Thursday, scientists powered up an instrument that makes the flux of data between the telescope and Earth once again possible. The original plan was to use Hubble’s backup system, named Side B, as the main system as Side A showed some anomalies.

Though this plan worked perfectly in the beginning, unfortunately the never used before Side B started malfunctioning causing the telescope to shut down and operate in safe mode. Scientists say that the instruments aboard the telescope did not suffer any real damage, the problem being a reliable way in which they could be used.

Among the problems, Goddard scientists reported a software problem which shut down the entire system and an electrical short in the power tray. Since then the software problem was fixed and the rest of the anomalies which are showing up are hoped to be caused by Side B’s brusque activation.

The telescope, orbiting Earth at an altitude of 350 miles is hoped to be functional and start sending pictures by Saturday.

Scientists have pointed out that the technology which Hubble uses is outdated even in comparison with some personal computers as the chip in the main onboard flight computer is an Intel 486. Goddard scientists also announced that if all repairs prove successful the telescope might remain functional 6 more years.