A SpaceX Dragon capsule successfully docked with the ISS, rescuing astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore after nine months in space. NASA’s Nick Hague welcomed them dressed as an ‘alien’. Williams and Wilmore will have to wait a few more days before going home aboard the Dragon.

Reaching orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the newest crew includes NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, both military pilots; and Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russia’s Kirill Peskov, both former airline pilots. They will spend the next six months at the space station, considered the normal stint, after springing Wilmore and Williams free.

A launch pad problem has forced a flight delay to replace NASA's two stuck astronauts. The new crew needs to get to the International Space Station before Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams can head home after nine months in orbit.

SpaceX NASA Crew-10 mission JAXA Astronaut Takuya Onishi waves as he leaves the Operations and Checkout Building to board a Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on Friday,

The crew-swap mission will enable NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return to Earth from the International Space Station.