Vierling approached NASA's Commercialization Center in Madison, Wis., in February 1997, with an eye on a shuttle flight sometime in 2000. It was just an idea. In January, NASA told Vierling his experiment had been bumped up and was now listed on the manifest for STS-95, Glenn's historic return to space. It really put me under the gun. I had planned on about 18 to 20 months to get the background information so we could correctly design the experiment.
Weightlessness poses unique parameters and problems that had to be overcome.
The final experimental design is vastly different from what he had originally envisioned. The abbreviated preparation time has exacted a personal toll on Vierling, who got help from Steve Goldman, a professor of biology at the University of Toledo. Goldman is a key patent holder of related technology. Steve gave me a lot of help. I don't think I could have done all of the preliminary work in my lab alone.