Chapter 3

Elizabeth's POV

The next day...

  Meeting Bruce yesterday was amazing... he actually seemed to like me as a person. I make myself for pancakes and a cup of hot tea to go with them, eating breakfast in bliss before getting ready to leave for work. I'm super excited for work today. I'm hoping to assist Bruce on some upcoming projects as well as Tony. Tony's great don't get me wrong, but he's not on Bruce's level in my eyes. Bruce is like a God, a science God. If Thor were a science God, that would describe Bruce perfectly. 

   I get to work right on time, clock in, and get my assignments for the day. I have another orientation session to attend for two hours to start the day, a meeting with both Tony and Bruce, and then my main tasks for the day. Let's get this show on the road shall we?

  A couple hours later...

   I'm in my meeting with Tony and Bruce, both of whom grill me with questions about how I'm settling in here and things like that. I smile at both of them, telling them that I'm thrilled to be here. Everyone on the staff is really nice and has welcomed me with open arms. Tony smirks. 

"Well you'll be even happier because your first major assignment is one you'll be working on with Bruce."

    I keep it cool on the outside but on the inside I'm screaming. This is amazing news! I look at Bruce and he bites his lip, smiling softly at me. "I look forward to picking your brain Elizabeth. Why don't we go grab lunch and then we can get started on that project. I'll explain it more over lunch." I smile at him. "I'd love that. Can we go to McDonald's?" He laughs. "We sure can." The two of you then head to McDonalds to have lunch. 

    I have a cheeseburger with a medium fries and a coke while Bruce has a small fry with a salad and iced tea. His meal is certainly healthier than mine. I can't help it though, it's my time of the month and I'm having cravings. Sorry, TMI. While we eat, Bruce tells me all about the project we're going to be working on. It's inspired by one of the most successful scientific experiments in the world. An article about it is below:

THE VERY LARGE ARRAY

Radio telescopes listening to the cosmos Positioned on hundreds of square miles of desert outside Magdalena, New Mexico, the (VLA) is one of the largest telescopes in the world. Its 27 individual radio antennas, each of which is 82 feet in diameter, form a Y with arms 13 miles long and gather signals from some of the brightest objects in the universe. Its sister project, the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), is a line of 10 radio antennas that extends 5,531 miles from Hawaii to the Virgin Islands. The VLA and VLBA create of celestial objects as close as the moon and as far away as the edge of the observable universe.

Scientific Utility

Because radio waves can penetrate the cosmic dust that obscures many objects, the VLA and VLBA can see things that optical telescopes can't. Using the VLA, scientists have studied the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, searched for the origins of gamma-ray bursts in faraway nebulae and, in 1989, received radio transmissions from the Voyager 2 satellite as it passed Neptune, giving us the first up-close photos of the gas giant and its moons. The VLBA measures shifts in the Earth's orientation in the universe. By focusing on distant, virtually fixed objects, scientists can detect any apparent changes in Earth's orientation in space. This orientation can be thrown slightly out of place during major earthquakes, like the one that struck Japan earlier this year.

   This project is going to take us at least a few weeks to work on, but both of us are eager to start it. Plus, it'll give us a reason to spend a lot of time together and really get to know one another. We end up working late into the evening, time slipping us by. Before we know it, it's eight o'clock at night and both of us need to get some rest seeing as we have another busy day of work ahead of us in the morning. We share a handshake and head our separate ways for the night. 

Hoped that you guys liked this chapter! :) -Mary