NASA Teases Rare Image Of Astronauts Testing SpaceX’s Multi Billion Dollar Moon Ship

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With SpaceX continuing to head towards its third Starship integrated test flight, NASA is also testing the Starship upper stage's design suitability to let astronauts to live and work on the lunar surface. Starship is a central component of NASA's Human Landing System (HLS) lander for the Artemis program, and one major reason that it was selected for the multi billion dollar award was because of its volume.

This volume, which allows NASA to deliver copious amounts of cargo to the lunar surface once Starship becomes operational, also means that astronauts must use an elevator to descend from their crew quarters on top of the ship to the ground below them.

While SpaceX isn't shy about sharing its progress with Starship development in Texas, the firm is somewhat quieter when developing the Starship lunar lander. This lander is a customized upper-stage Starship that will be customized to accommodate landing conditions on the Moon and the requirements of long-term habitability.

One key feature of the lunar lander is its elevator since, without it, astronauts will be unable to exit the ship and walk around the Moon. In fact, since most of the upper stage Starship is either tanks or engines, vehicles designed for Mars missions might also rely on an elevator to ferry crew and cargo to the surface.

Now, NASA has shared the first publicly available image of the elevator similar to the one its Artemis crew will use to leave their ship and descend to the lunar surface. With SpaceX developing the Starship rockets in Texas, the space agency's astronauts tested a SpaceX mockup of the Starship elevator,