The SpaceX crew had a surprise waiting for them at the International Space Station. As the team arrived to rescue the stranded NASA astronauts, they were welcomed by an extraterrestrial being on board. Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore began their mission back on June 5, 2024. They were initially planned for eight days on board ISS, but after some technical failures on their Boeing Starline spacecraft, the daring duo was left stranded in space.
Previously, NASA revealed that there was a helium leak as well as several failed thrusters, which made it impossible for the astronauts to use the spacecraft for their return journey. Shortly after, the un-crewed Boeing returned home, while Williams and Wilmore kept waiting nine months for a rescue mission.
On March 16, the SpaceX Dragon capsule arrived at the International Space Station. The replacement crew was welcomed by an “alien,” and the live clip instantly generated buzz. Well, it definitely wasn’t an actual extraterrestrial Sunita and Barry may have encountered during their long overstay; rather, it was astronaut Nick Hague, who wore an alien mask to lighten the reunion mood.
Although there were many concerns regarding this rescue mission, the SpaceX Crew-9 was successfully dispatched from the Kennedy Space Center, and it arrived at the ISS as planned without any technical failures. As soon as the replacement crew reached, the stranded astronauts gave them a warm welcome, opening the space station’s hatch. Barry then rang the spaceship’s bell as the crew members entered one by one and filled it with hugs and handshakes.
NASA braodcast the mission live on its streaming service, which captured Sunita Williams speaking to Mission Control: “It was a wonderful day, Great to see our friends arrive.” Commander McClain echoed, “You can hardly even put it into words.” On the other hand, Cosmonaut Kirill Peskov also thanked “all the world’s space industry.”
All the hugs. 🫶
The hatch of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft opened March 16 at 1:35 a.m. ET and the members of Crew-10 entered the @Space_Station with the rest of their excited Expedition 72 crew. pic.twitter.com/mnUddqPqfr
— NASA’s Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) March 16, 2025
Now, Sunita and Barry, who have already spent a long time at ISS, will spend the upcoming days helping their colleagues settle on board. The daring duo, along with Nick Hague and the cosmonauts, are slated to kick off their return journey to Earth as early as March 19. They will use the SpaceX Dragon Capsule for their highly-anticipated return.
Meanwhile, for the time they were stranded at ISS, many controversy erupted. Elon Musk claimed that they were left out for political reasons, which the NASA astronauts themselves dismissed. Andreas Mogensen, a Danish astronaut, called him out as a “liar.” Musk responded with, “SpaceX could have brought them back several months ago. I OFFERED THIS DIRECTLY to the Biden administration, and they refused. Return WAS pushed back for political reasons. Idiot.
Now that the rescue mission is in full swing, the focus has shifted to Sunita Williams, Barry Willmore, and others’ return to Earth in Musk’s SpaceX Crew-9.
