Even astronauts have a sense of humor, as shown during the docking of NASA crew 10 docked to the International Space Station (ISS) where they encountered “aliens” early Sunday mornings.
Russian astronaut Ivan Wagner wore an alien mask while welcoming four newcomers, about 29 hours after it was released at 7:03pm on Friday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after a dragon capsule docked to the station at 12:04am.
Members of the ISS crew were able to see the strays floating while wearing masks, hoodies, trousers and socks during “a carefree moment,” while preparing capsules for boarding, a NASA spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“NASA astronauts Anne McLean and Nicole Ayers, Jaxa (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronauts Onish and Roscosmos Cosnow Kirill Peskov entered the International Space Station shortly after opening a hatche between the space station and the Space Dragon Space Raft.
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Russian astronaut Ivan Vagner wears an alien mask at the port when crew 10 arrived at the ISS on March 16, 2025. (NASA/SPACEX)
Following the opening of the hatch by Snie Williams, after Wagner’s practical joke, a new arrival emerged, embracing the crew of 72 handshakes and the ship’s bell ringing.
“It was a great day. It was great to see my friends arrive,” Williams told Mission Control.
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Russian astronaut Ivan Vagner is sitting in the harbor wearing an alien mask when Crew-10 arrives at the ISS on March 16, 2025. (NASA/SPACEX)
Williams and Butch Willmore are expected to show their new arrivals inside and outside the space station before they finally return home nine months later. Their mission was to continue a week after Boeing’s first astronaut flight launch, but they were stuck in space after the issue forced NASA to bring Boeing’s Starliner back into the sky.
Take a closer look at the light blue alien mask worn by Russian astronaut Ivan Vagner when Crew 10 arrives at the ISS. (NASA/SPACEX)
The image, made from a video from NASA, shows the astronauts greeted each other after they were docked to the International Space Station on Sunday, March 16, 2025. From left to bottom row: Butch Wilmore, Onysia Alpine, Anne McLain, Kirill Peskov, Nicole Ayers, Don Pettitt. (NASA)
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Crew 9 Commander Nick Hague and Russian astronaut Alexander Golbunov are scheduled to leave the station at 4am Wednesday before jumping off the Florida coast.
Fox News’ Landon Mion, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to the report.
