THIS is the bizarre moment an "alien" greeted the SpaceX crew as they arrived at the International Space Station to rescue two astronauts stranded for nine months. As the Dragon capsule docked, NASA astronaut Nick Hague - already aboard the ISS - floated toward the hatch wearing an alien mask, giving the new arrivals an welcome. The lighthearted prank was a surreal moment in an otherwise dramatic mission to bring home Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who had been stuck in orbit far beyond their intended eight-day stay. The Dragon capsule was carrying NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Russia’s Kirill Peskov. It docked with the ISS shortly after 4am UK time after a 28-hour journey from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Once the hatch was opened, Wilmore rang the ship's bell as the newcomers floated in, exchanging hugs and handshakes with the existing crew. Williams told Mission Control: “It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive.” McClain, speaking after their successful docking, described the surreal moment: “Crew-10 has had a great journey up here, and I cannot tell you the immense joy of our crew when we looked out the window and saw the space station for the first time. "That is such an amazing journey. You can hardly even put it into words.” Stranded in space The mission to retrieve Williams and Wilmore comes after months of delays, political controversy, and technical failures. The two were supposed to return home shortly after arriving in June 2024 aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule, but a series of malfunctions left them stuck on the ISS. NASA ultimately decided to send Starliner back to Earth empty, forcing the astronauts to wait for another ride. Their return had initially been scheduled for late March, but the timeline was pushed forward after former President Donald Trump urged SpaceX owner Elon Musk to “go get” the astronauts. Trump and Musk have claimed the astronauts were left in space for political reasons, a suggestion refuted by NASA. Ken Bowersox, NASA’s associate administrator for Space Operations, admitted in a press briefing that there “may have been conversations” within the Biden administration about delaying their return, but he was not part of those discussions. Back to Earth Now that their replacements have arrived, Williams and Wilmore will spend the next few days familiarising the new crew with life on the ISS before boarding their ride home — a SpaceX Dragon capsule that has been docked at the station since September. After months of uncertainty, Williams is eager to return home to her family and her two dogs. “It’s been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us,” she said. Wilmore’s teenage daughter, Daryn, described the ordeal as exhausting. She told E! News: “We’ve had so many changes, and it’s a bit mentally exhausting.”