'Alien' encounter: ISS crew member plays joke as SpaceX team arrives

While ISS crew members were preparing the capsule for deboarding, Vagner could be seen floating around while wearing a mask, a hoodie, pants and socks during the "lighthearted moment," a NASA spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

"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

Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner wears an alien mask in the port during the arrival of Crew-10 to the ISS on March 16, 2025. (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 Vagner'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

Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner 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 the launch of Boeing's first astronaut flight, but they were stuck in space after issues forced NASA to bring the Boeing Starliner back empty.

Closer look at the light blue alien mask worn by Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner as Crew-10 arrived at the ISS. (NASA/SPACEX)

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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Crew-9 commander Nick 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.