Astronauts Ride Dragon Spacecraft to Space Station, Encounter “Aliens”?

【Epoch Times, March 17, 2025】Astronauts have a sense of humor too. On Sunday morning, when the “Crew-10” composed of two NASA astronauts, one Japanese astronaut, and one Russian astronaut arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, they encountered an “alien”.

The four astronauts aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 PM last Friday, flying for 29 hours before reaching the space station at 12:04 AM on Sunday. Russian astronaut Ivan Vagner welcomed them wearing an alien mask (click

here

to see the picture).

According to a statement from NASA spokesperson to Fox News Digital Channel, as the International Space Station crew prepared for docking, Vagner was seen in this “light moment” floating in the air wearing a mask, hoodie, pants, and socks (click

here

to watch the video).

In a statement, NASA said, “NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos astronaut Kirill Peskov entered the International Space Station after opening the hatch between the ISS and SpaceX Dragon spacecraft at 1:35 AM Eastern Time on Sunday”.

After astronaut Suni Williams opened the hatch of the space station, the bell inside the spacecraft rang as the new astronauts floated into the space station. After seeing Vagner’s prank, they shook hands and hugged the other astronauts in the station.

“It’s a wonderful day. I’m glad to see our friends arrive,” Williams told Mission Control.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft also has an important mission to bring back stranded astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

On June 5, 2024, Wilmore and Williams flew to the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft with the plan to return to Earth after an eight-day stay in orbit. However, helium leaks and thruster failures were discovered on the spacecraft, leading NASA to decide not to bring the Starliner back to Earth with crew on board for safety reasons. The return of these two astronauts has been repeatedly delayed.

As scheduled, Wilmore and Williams are set to leave the International Space Station as early as 4:00 AM Eastern Time on Wednesday, March 19th. They will be accompanied by NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos astronaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.