A University of Dayton Research Institute scientist will be among those holding their breath early Monday when Curiosity, NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover, is scheduled to land on Mars’ surface after a 352 million-mile trip from Earth.

The rover is the centerpiece of a $2.5 billion mission to investigate whether conditions on Mars were ever favorable for microbial life and to preserve clues in the rocks about possible past life.

“It is going to be a really good experience if it all works,” said Chadwick Barklay, a senior research scientist at UDRI’s Energy Technologies and Materials division. Barklay developed the layout and assembly procedures for Curiosity’s radioisotope power system.

The power generator attached to the back end of the large, mobile laboratory is essentially a nuclear battery that will operate the rover’s instruments, robotic arm, wheels, computer and radio. The system works by converting heat created by naturally decaying isotopes into electricity to power the rover.

Barklay designed the layout and assembly procedures under contract to the Idaho National Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy’s top nuclear energy laboratory, where the power system was assembled and tested. He has worked on the project since 2008.

UDRI scientists are doing research on future technologies associated with the power generator. “The next evolutions of this particular power system hopefully will have improvements on them that were developed here at UDRI,” Barklay said.

Barklay also worked with a team of scientists to ensure that the power system will function after the lab lands on Mars.

“The Mars Science Laboratory will go through a series of ‘pyro shock’ events, such as parachute deployment and retro rocket firing, as it goes through entry, descent and landing,” he said. “We needed to make sure that the power system could withstand these events and remain operational to execute its mission after landing.”

Curiosity is scheduled to operate an entire Martian year, or 687 Earth days.