NASA astronauts test SpaceX Starship elevator for future moon landings

NASA astronauts Nicole Mann (center) and Douglas "Wheels" Wheelock test a SpaceX Starship elevator in support of future Artemis moon missions, in a picture published in December 2023.

NASA astronauts tested SpaceX's elevator concept for the Artemis lunar lander that will bring humans back to the surface of the moon as early as 2025. 

SpaceX was selected to build the spacecraft that NASA will use for future Artemis program missions to the moon. The company’s Starship human landing system (HLS) will carry two astronauts from the Orion spacecraft in lunar orbit to the moon's surface, serve as the crew's habitat for the duration of their one-week stay on the moon and then launch them back to Orion. This will happen later in the decade if all goes to plan.