Dan Maas of Maas Digital has created an animation charting NASA's Deep Impact spacecrafts trek from Cape Canaveral to its collision with the comet Tempel 1 in the early morning hours of July 4, reports SPX.
Using detailed research and hours of conversations with mission engineers and scientists, Maas has recreated every detail from the precise structure of the spacecraft to the celestial bodies it takes pictures of along its journey.
Maas has created two Deep Impact animations for NASA and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The animations can be viewed at www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/deepimpact/multimedia/di-animation.html.
Maas, founder of Maas Digital in Ithaca, was hired to create the computerized animations based on the videos he produced for NASA's Mars rover missions.
In comparing the two projects, Maas said, "Aside from the launch it was quite different On Mars, you're dealing with a terrestrial landscape setting. Deep Impact spends 99% of its life just floating out there in interplanetary space. It's hard to give a good sense of motion because the distances are so great."
He fixed the problem by shifting camera angles and speeding up the timeline.
Maas, who entered Cornell University at 16, has been making films and animations since elementary school. At Cornell he was a College Scholar, which gave him the opportunity to create his own curriculum. He studied mainly Math, Physics and Theater Arts.
He launched his first company Digital Cinema at 16 and interned with an animation studio in Los Angeles at 17. However, mostly he is self-taught.
Maas Digital creates animation for NASA and other aerospace companies. For further information, visit www.maasdigital.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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