Lifestyle
Rocket launch photographer covering SpaceX: “I have the coolest job in the world”
“You have the coolest job in the world!” is something I hear quite often. Not because I get to post selfies on Instagram, while standing on top of the roof of NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building that once served as home to the Space Shuttle, but because I film rockets.
My name is Tom Cross and I’m a credentialed rocket launch photographer for Teslarati at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Being mainly accustomed to story-telling through photographs, this blog will be a first for me, so bear with me as I attempt to bring you into my life and show you what it’s like to be involved in SpaceX launch operations as a press-photographer, in written word.
In addition, I’ve already begun posting little video snippets on Instagram, giving SpaceX fans insight on my launch preparations and a behind-the-scenes look at launch facilities. Another common question I get is: “What type of gear do you use?” For the techies out there, I’ll be answering these types of questions, while also providing tips on photography and editing.
I don’t expect this to be an overly technical type of blog and I’ll try to make it fun, nerdy, and quick to read. If you’re new to rockets or photography I think you’ll enjoy it because I haven’t gotten sucked into it so much to be exclusively interested in the esoteric things. Let’s make this an interactive experience so be sure to leave me a comment, ask questions, or tell me if I missed something you want to see!
It is a wonderful privilege to be able to turn a passion for photography and space exploration into a career, something that does not escape me one moment. I’m blessed to know that my wife and family are very supportive, as it takes quite an investment of time to do this type of work.
So, how did I get into this, you ask? Long story short: I used to watch Space Shuttle launches while growing up here in Florida. I was fascinated by them and wanted to know about the people who were handpicked to ride on the Shuttle, so I decided to learn more by reading the biographies of these astronauts. Most of them were inspiring and surprisingly entertaining. Astronauts have an incredible camaraderie and I find their sense of humor, derived from experiences only an astronaut would have, simply hilarious.
That wasn’t enough though.
Because I lived so close to where all of the action was taking place, I began to frequent Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Center to experience and learn more about the industry. There, I had the opportunity to meet some of the astronauts that I’ve been reading about! What a blast (no pun intended) it was to be able to do that. It turns out, they’re no mythical space superhero. Rather, they’re interesting everyday people, too – believe it or not.
TomCross with Astronaut Tom Jones at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center.
I believe great images allow people to experience something in an intimately deep visual language that only they can truly understand, and it’s a special moment for me when I pull up one of my pictures on my iPhone and hand it over to them and see the positive reaction on their face.
I took photography classes at a local college. During my time as a professional paintball player I saw a lot of incredible images of the sport so, when I stopped playing, I began to take my own photos from my perspective as a former pro-player. My photography began with paintball events, teams, and players. Then, it moved into Racing at Daytona International Speedway from inside the team pits and the infield. I got hooked on shooting extreme sports and not being the type of person who is content on just watching – I had to be involved! Now, my long-time passion for space and photographing remarkable-extremes lead to shooting rocket launches and there’s nothing more thrilling to me than this!
https://twitter.com/_TomCross_/status/950281149871542272
Have you ever been here for a rocket launch? Close enough to hear it? Feel it?
2018 is going to be a lively year for space. I’m sure many of you reading this have either considered coming to witness the demo-launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy at the end of January, or already have plans for it. Either or, if you do come and see a guy speaking into a vlog camera and looking slightly overenthusiastic about it, chances are it’s going to be me, so come say hi.
Have a good one,
On a very cold & dark morning at LC-39A photographing Falcon 9. (Photo by: Thaddeus Cesari, Observer, @thaddeusces)
Lifestyle
Tesla hit by Iranian missile debris in Israel
A Tesla in Israel absorbed a direct hit from missile debris, and the glassroof held.
On March 30, 2026, Lara Shusterman was in Netanya, Israel when Iranian ballistic missiles triggered air raid sirens across the city. While she remained in safety, her 2024 Tesla Model Y did not escape untouched. A heavy piece of missile debris struck the car’s massive glass roof, leaving a deep crater but without shattering. In a Facebook post to the Tesla Israel community the following morning, Shusterman described what happened: “The glass did not shatter into dangerous shards. She stopped the damage and pushed the metal part to the ground.” She closed by thanking Elon Musk and the Tesla team for building what she called “security and a sense of trust even in extreme situations.”
Netanya is a coastal city in central Israel, roughly 18 miles north of Tel Aviv and has been among the areas most frequently struck during Iran’s ongoing missile campaign, following coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian military infrastructure. Falling shrapnel from intercepted missiles is a common occurrence.
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- Tesla Model Y glass roof shattered from a piece of falling Iranian missile debris
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- A piece of Iranian missile debris that struck Lara Shusterman’s Tesla Model Y in Netanya, Israel on March 30, 2026, after being intercepted by Israeli air defenses.
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- Tesla Model Y glass roof shattered from a piece of falling Iranian missile debris
Source: Tesla Israel Facebook Group
The incident is a testament to Tesla’s structural engineering. Tesla’s glass roof is designed to support over four times the vehicle’s own weight. That strength has shown up in real-world accidents too. In 2021, a Model Y in California was struck by a falling tree during a storm, with the glass roof holding firm and the cabin remaining intact. In another widely reported incident, a Tesla Model Y plunged 250 feet off the cliff at Devil’s Slide in California in January 2023, with all four occupants, including two young children, surviving.
Disturbing details about Tesla’s 250-foot cliff drop emerge amid initial investigation
Tesla officially launched sales in Israel in early 2021 and captured over 60 percent of Israel’s EV market in the first year. The brand’s foothold in Israel remains significant. Tens of thousands of Teslas are now on Israeli roads, making incidents like Shusterman’s easy to corroborate. On the same week her Model Y took the hit, the U.S. Space Force awarded SpaceX a $178.5 million contract to launch missile tracking satellites, a separate but fitting reminder of how intertwined the Musk ecosystem has become with the realities of modern conflict.
Elon Musk
NASA sends humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972 – Here’s what’s next
NASA’s Artemis II launched four astronauts toward the Moon on the first crewed lunar mission since 1972.
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket launches carrying the Orion spacecraft with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist on NASA’s Artemis II mission, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, from Operations and Support Building II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis II mission will take Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back aboard SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft launched at 6:35pm EDT from Launch Complex 39B. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
NASA launched four astronauts toward the Moon on April 1, 2026, marking the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in December 1972. The Artemis II mission lifted off from Kennedy Space Center aboard the Space Launch System rocket at 6:35 p.m. EDT, sending commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day journey around the far side of the Moon and back.
The mission does not include a lunar landing. It is a test flight designed to validate the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems, navigation, and communications in deep space with a crew aboard for the first time. If the crew reaches the planned distance of 252,000 miles from Earth, they will set a new record for the farthest any human has ever traveled, surpassing even the Apollo 13 distance record.
As Teslarati reported, SpaceX holds a central role in what comes next. The Starship Human Landing System is under contract to carry astronauts to the lunar surface for Artemis IV, now targeting 2028, after NASA restructured its mission sequence due to delays in Starship’s orbital refueling demonstration. Before any Moon landing happens, SpaceX must prove it can transfer propellant between two Starships in orbit, something no rocket program has done at this scale.
The last time humans left Earth’s orbit was 53 years ago. Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of Apollo 17 were the final people to walk on the Moon, a record that stands to this day. Elon Musk has long argued that returning is not optional. “It’s been now almost half a century since humans were last on the Moon,” Musk said. “That’s too long, we need to get back there and have a permanent base on the Moon.”
The Artemis program involves 60 countries signed onto the Artemis Accords, and this mission sets several firsts beyond distance. Glover becomes the first person of color to travel beyond low Earth orbit, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first non-American astronaut to reach the Moon’s vicinity. According to NASA’s live mission updates, the spacecraft’s solar arrays deployed successfully after liftoff and the crew completed a proximity operations demonstration within the first hours of flight.
Artemis II is step one. The Moon landing and the permanent lunar base come later. But after more than five decades, humans are heading back.
Elon Musk
Tesla Optimus Gen 3 is coming to the Tesla Diner with new ambitions
Tesla’s Optimus robot left the Hollywood Diner within months of opening. Now Musk is planning its return with a bigger role and a major Gen 3 upgrade underway.
![Tesla Optimus Gen 3 [Credit: Tesla]](https://www.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/tesla-optimus-gen3-diner.jpg)
Tesla’s Optimus robot was one of the most talked-about features when the Tesla Diner opened on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood on July 21, 2025. Dubbed “Poptimus” by Tesla fans, the Gen 2 robot stood upstairs at the retro-futuristic, drive-in theater and Tesla Supercharging station, scooping popcorn into bags and handing them to guests with a wave.
The diner itself had been years in the making. Elon Musk first floated the idea in 2018 with a tweet about building an “old-school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant” at a Hollywood Supercharger. What eventually opened was a unique two-story neon-lit space, with 80 EV charging stalls, and Optimus serving as a live demonstration of where Tesla’s ambitions were headed.
If our retro-futuristic diner turns out well, which I think it will, @Tesla will establish these in major cities around the world, as well as at Supercharger sites on long distance routes.
An island of good food, good vibes & entertainment, all while Supercharging! https://t.co/zmbv6GfqKf
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 21, 2025
But Optimus did not stay long, and was gone by December 2025.
Now, the robot is set to return with a more demanding job. Musk has ambitions for Optimus to take on a food runner role in 2026, delivering meals directly to cars at the Supercharger stalls. While the latest Gen 3 Optimus is likely to initially take on its previous popcorn-serving role, it wouldn’t be out of the question for Optimus to see a quick promotion. With improved hand dexterity that features 50 total actuators and 22 degrees of freedom per hand, and significantly more powerful processing through Tesla’s latest AI5 chip that includes Grok-powered voice interaction, Musk described Optimus at the Abundance Summit on March 12, 2026, as “by far the most advanced robot in the world, Nothing’s even close.”
Back to work
See you at Tesla Diner tomorrow pic.twitter.com/H3tTajrUbu
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) March 30, 2026
That confidence is backed by a major manufacturing shift. At the Q4 2025 earnings call in January, Musk announced Tesla would discontinue the Model S and Model X and convert those Fremont production lines to build Optimus. “It’s time to basically bring the Model S and X programs to an end,” he said, calling for a pivot that reflects where the Tesla’s future lies.
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