‘Alien’ encounter: NASA astronaut plays joke as SpaceX team arrives

Even astronauts have a sense of humor, as shown during NASA’s Crew-10 docking on the International Space Station (ISS), when they were met by an “alien” early Sunday morning.

Crew-9 commander Nick Hague wore an alien mask while welcoming four newcomers after their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule docked to the station at 12:04 a.m., about 29 hours after launching at 7:03 p.m. on Friday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

While ISS crew members were preparing the capsule for deboarding, Hague could be seen floating around while wearing a mask, a hoodie, pants and socks. 

“NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov entered the International Space Station shortly after opening the hatches between the space station and the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft at 1:35 a.m. EDT,” NASA said in a statement.

NASA’S STUCK ASTRONAUTS WELCOME REPLACEMENTS WHO ARRIVED TO SPACE STATION ON SPACEX CAPSULE

Crew-9 commander Nick Hague, bottom right, can be seen wearing an alien mask as crew members work during the docking of Crew-10 to the ISS. (NASA/SPACEX)

Following the hatch opening by Suni Williams, the ship’s bell was rung as the new arrivals floated in, shook hands and hugged the Expedition 72 crew after Hague’s practical joke. 

“It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive,” Williams told Mission Control. 

ELON MUSK’S SPACEX LAUNCHES CREW TO RESCUE STUCK NASA ASTRONAUTS FROM ISS

Crew-9 commander Nick Hague wears an alien mask and sits in the port during the arrival of Crew-10 to the ISS on March 16, 2025. (NASA/SPACEX)

Williams and Butch Wilmore are expected to show the new arrivals the ins and outs of the space station before they finally return home after nine months. Their mission was only scheduled to last one week after a launch of Boeing’s first astronaut flight, but they were stuck in space after issues forced NASA to bring the Boeing Starliner back empty.

This image made from video by NASA shows astronauts greeting each other after a SpaceX capsule docked with the International Space Station, Sunday, March 16, 2025. Top row from left: Nick Hague, Alexander Gorbunov, Suni Williams, Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. Bottom row from left: Butch Wilmore, Takuya Onishi, Anne McClain, Kirill Peskov, Nichole Ayers and Don Pettit. (NASA)

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Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are scheduled to depart the station on Wednesday as early as 4 a.m. before splashing down off Florida’s coast.

Fox News’ Landon Mion, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.