You recognize me as a rocket photographer, but I’m often asked about what I shoot when I’m not photographing a launch. In my blog, I’ll take you with me on some of my personal adventures with my camera, and dive into my life Behind the Lens.
Through writing, I’ll share pieces of life-changing, frightening, and always extraordinarily beautiful places and moments I’ve experienced. I think you’ll see that my passion for photographing rockets isn’t that far removed from my passion of photographing Earth. I’m an adventure photographer when I’m not a rocket photographer.
The greatest journeys I’ve been on, so far, have been in the South Western United States. The terrain is extraterrestrial. It’s not oversaturated with cities, I can drive a reasonable amount of time and get away from light pollution and busy interstates. The mountains have the most dynamic weather and environmental differences. You can be in the hottest part of the earth, Death Valley, and see snow-capped mountains on the horizon. There’ll be a drought in one location and waterfalls from snowmelt in another, all within driving distance. It’s nature at its richest and most intense.
I’m an adventure photographer when I’m not a rocket photographer
Located in Arizona, the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, carved by the sediment-rich water from the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, hence, the name ‘Colorado River’ at the bottom. It’s been flowing for at least 5 million years, scraping the layers of earth to expose time before dinosaurs, even time before life. The very bottom of the Grand Canyon is made of exposed rock that is 2-billion years old, a layer of time where no fossils are located. You can really get a sense of the earth as an actual planet down there.
The size of the canyon is unfathomable. If we’re in a simulation, the display is too much data for our minds to process. There’s so much texture, yet no detail. There’s a lot of life, but no movement. You can see the blue haze of the atmosphere as you look across to the North Rim. You feel like it’s not far, but it’s a couple of miles across. So, naturally, I wanted to toss a rock over the edge. I expected it to go pretty far, instead it actually just appeared to drop straight down. My strongest throw is seemingly very weak and it was that moment the earth just put me in my place…for the first time.
I’m not afraid of the edge of cliffs. For better or worse, my heart rate doesn’t change a bit. So I laid down on my stomach with my head hanging over the edge of the South Rim. I blocked out the sounds of people around me, the safety handrails, imagined all of humanity gone for a while to get the sense that it was just me and this planet.
I thought of how the wind swirled through the canyon while watching majestic vultures, called Condors soar around inside. In my mind, I played a video of what the snow must look like melting in the Rockies and water trickling through the rocks while gravity pulls it down to a valley to form the river that’s been flowing for millennia. I wondered about the temperature differences between the geological layers, there’s a 20-degree difference between the top of the canyon and the bottom, the bottom is warmer. I tried picturing the ancient oceans and deserts that had formed here time and time again as earth went through its natural cycles. Then, I sat down on the edge with my feet hanging over, I could only capture the wow factor of this feeling by using a fisheye lens on my camera.
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- Photo: TomCross
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- Photo: TomCross
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- Photo: TomCross
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- Photo: Tom Cross
I believe humans are meant to explore. We’re supposed to migrate to other locations when seasons change. To me, it feels as natural as our circadian rhythm but we’ve interrupted that natural cycle by planting ourselves into jobs which often have no greater purpose than a comfortable paycheck. I spent a lot of time reading books by physicists like Steven Hawking, Brian Cox, Carl Sagan, among others who have explored our location in the cosmos and what we know about our position within it. Having a fulfilling career that serves a greater purpose to humanity and being able to explore our vehicle in the cosmos is not a dream.
Back to the adventures; I’ll take you on a soul searching hike through the Grand Canyon. I hiked 21 miles in 2 days, down to the Colorado River on one trail and out of the Canyon on another trail. It was a personal challenge I set for myself and the first time I’d been in a situation like it. I had all of the supplies I thought I’d need for such a hike. I was solo on this hike, all situations had to be handled on my own with only the items I had with me. How does photography fit into this? There are unexpected moments of beauty where the earth just floors me. It reminds me of how small and insignificant we are as an animal. How dangerous it can be and how precious. It gives us life and it takes it away. It’s to be appreciated. I try to capture those moments.
They weren’t conducting a rescue, it was a recovery
Humans, ugh… We are raised to believe we’re the top of the food chain. But we’re a virus to this cellular organism called Earth. These days, there are talented teams of people who are actively doing anything about reversing and preventing more damage to our home & species. Tesla and SpaceX are the pioneers of this movement. For the first time, we have the tools to help fix it in the form of products that we can purchase to leave less of an impact during our time here. Remember, you will die one day, but your impact remains…
In order to remove this inherited feeling of superiority our species is raised with, I had to feel exposed to danger, I had to make sure earth had its way with me. Whatever happens, I’d work my way through it. The danger is accessible in the Grand Canyon, signs on pathways remind people that they will die if they’re not mindful of what they’re doing.
Just before my hike down, I got a dose of reality. A rescue helicopter dropped off a rescue team to a nearby spot of the canyon then it flew away. I wasn’t able to get a clear view of the team in the canyon because National Park Rangers had the trails leading to the location closed. They weren’t conducting a rescue, it was a recovery. The rumor I heard in a restaurant, is that a family was standing near the edge for a photograph with the canyon in the background and someone had slipped off the edge. When the helicopter returned, it took only a few moments for the team to connect to the line and airlift the body from the canyon.
The next day, I’d be doing my solo hike…
Don’t miss Tom Cross | Behind the Lens
Next week, I’ll take you down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, through the South Kaibab trail and out of the Bright Angel Trail. If you enjoyed this adventure and want to go Behind the Lens with me each week on my adventures, please consider signing up to receive future issues via email.
‘Til then, have a good one,
– Tom Cross
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.
Tesla stock gets hit with shock move from Wall Street analysts
Tesla Full Self-Driving feature probe closed by NHTSA
