SpaceX Pranks Astronauts with Alien Mask Greeting

Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore are close to phoning home.

In simpler terms, the joint SpaceX and NASA Crew-10 mission recently launched with the goal of returning two astronauts who have been on the International Space Station since last June back to Earth. However, upon their return, they were given a cosmic joke by an extraterrestrial prankster.

In a video posted on March 16, one of the recently-arrived SpaceX crew members greeted Elon Musk, who is 58, and astronaut Kate Rubins, 60, by donning an alien costume. The crew member playfully folded his arms while nodding towards them, causing the pair to chuckle at his outfit. Eventually, Williams gave a thumbs up to the camera.

Shortly after the team delivered their alien surprise, four more astronauts assigned to the long-awaited mission—Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi, and Kirill Peskov—then entered the hatch of the spacecraft and happily embraced Williams and Willmore.

“Crew-10 has had a great journey up here,” McClain, 45, said in the clip shared by the International Space Station, adding it took “about 28 hours” to complete the first half of the mission. “I cannot tell you the immense joy of our crew seeing the space station for the first time. The greatness of the ground control teams have really shined through in the last few days getting us up here safely.”

This Ellen Ripley-inspired prank is a lighthearted welcome for Williams and Wilmore, whose flight home was initially set for March 12. However, NASA announced in a press release earlier this month that the mission would be delayed by two days due to a “hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm.”

True to the delay, the crew arrived at the ISS on March 14. And now that the mission seems to be running smoothly, the earliest Williams and Wilmore would return to Earth is March 19, pending weather conditions.

Williams and Wilmore originally landed at the ISS in June 2024 and intended to stay in space for eight days. However, their spacecraft—the Boeing’s Starliner—had several mechanical issues, and was sent back to Earth without them on board several weeks after.

Despite apprehensions on Earth about their well-being in the International Space Station, the seasoned astronauts countered President Donald Trump’s notion that they were essentially left unattended.

in space.

Indeed, Williams made it clear to CNN back in February that they were both doing quite well, as a matter of fact.

In response to speculation about their situation on the International Space Station (ISS), the seasoned astronauts refuted Donald Trump’s claim that they had been left “stranded” in space.

Williams herself stated to CNN in February that they are, in truth, doing quite well.

“We’ve got food, we’ve got clothes, we have great crew members up here,” she explained in the joint February interview with Wilmore. “Of course, it was a little bit longer stay than we had expected, but both of us have trained to live and work on the International Space Station and I think we’ve made the most of it.”

Keep reading to learn more about the astronauts’ prolonged journey to space….

Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore launched into space on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft June 5, 2024, with plans to stay at the International Space Station for eight days. Shortly after their launch, the astronauts reported a “stable and isolated leak” in their propulsion-related plumbing, per the Associated Press.

During their journey to the International Space Station (ISS), a persistent leak stayed constant, but four additional leaks surfaced and five thrusters malfunctioned. Despite these issues, they managed to securely dock at the ISS, anticipating that their mission might extend beyond the usual eight-day duration.

Two months after their faulty launch, NASA came forward with the debacle of the two astronauts stuck in space. At the time, the space organization was still trying to determine whether the Starliner would be fit for a return to space, and Boeing maintained at the time it should have been, with the company telling TopMob News in a statement, “If NASA decides to change the mission, we will take the actions necessary to configure Starliner for an uncrewed return.”

Meanwhile, former NASA official Scott Hubbard quelled public concern over Wilmore and Williams’ predicament, telling the Associated Press the astronauts—who have each been to space before on prior missions—are only “kind of stuck,” emphasizing that they have “plenty of supplies and work to do.”

After NASA confirmed that Williams and Wilmore would return to Earth on a SpaceX mission in February or March, rather than attempting to fix the Starliner, their families spoke out.

Wilmore’s wife Deanna Wilmore told WVLT in August of her family’s predicament, “You just sort of have to roll with it and expect the unexpected.”

Simultaneously, Williams’ spouse, Michael, expressed that he believed she wouldn’t feel disturbed about staying longer in space. He explained this to The Wall Street Journal, stating, “That’s where she is most content.

Just before celebrating six months in space, Williams and Wilmore shared insight into their Thanksgiving celebrations aboard the ISS.

Williams shared with NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt from the ISS on November 27 that they had packed away a collection of foods reminiscent of Thanksgiving. This included smoked turkey, cranberries, apple cobbler, green beans and mushrooms, as well as mashed potatoes.

Williams also reiterated that she and Wilmore were doing just fine amid their extended stay in space.

“People are worried about us, really, don’t worry about us,” she added. “We’re feeling good, working out, eating right. We have a lot of fun up here, too.”

After the astronauts celebrated six months in space, NASA confirmed they would be staying even longer than previously thought. Although the organization had originally planned for the duo to return in February, delays in the SpaceX mission that would retrieve them led their stay to be extended to March or April, NASA said at the time.

In February, President Donald Trump claimed in a Truth Social post that Williams and Wilmore had been “virtually abandoned” in space amid their eight-day-turned-eight-month journey. However, following the headline-making comment, the astronauts pushed back on the president’s claim.

We do not feel deserted. We come prepared and committed.

Williams interjected during the interview that the pair were “doing pretty darn good, actually.”

“We’ve got food, we’ve got clothes, we have great crew members up here,” she continued. “Of course, it was a little bit longer stay than we had expected, but both of us have trained to live and work on the International Space Station and I think we’ve made the most of it.”

During the interview, Wilmore and Williams also confirmed they’d be returning to Earth when SpaceX launches its Dragon capsule March 12.

“They’ll come here, rendezvous and dock,” Wilmore explained. “We’ll do a turnover for about a week and we will return on or about the 19th of March.”

Just days before her father was set to return, Wilmore’s daughter Daryn Wilmore spoke out on her father’s time in space—and how she felt about the delays in his return to Earth.

I shared with the Daily Mail in a March 6 interview that it’s been mentally draining. There have been problems, there’s been neglect, and these issues are why things keep getting delayed. It seems like one problem after another keeps coming up.

As a lifestyle expert, I recently received an update from my astronaut daughter, Daryn. She shared that despite some initial disappointment, her father is holding up remarkably well aboard the International Space Station (ISS). I’m incredibly proud to say that he’s proven himself to be extremely resilient in the face of challenges.

2025-03-17 18:28

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