• News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
Shocking amount of money Neil Armstrong made as the highest paid of astronauts to go to moon

Home> Science> Space

Published 16:19 18 Feb 2025 GMT

Shocking amount of money Neil Armstrong made as the highest paid of astronauts to go to moon

The payout doesn't reflect the nature of the job

Rebekah Jordan

Rebekah Jordan

Featured Image Credit: Encyclopaedia Britannica / Contributor / Getty
Space
Nasa
Moon

Advert

Advert

Advert

Being an astronaut is one of the toughest jobs on the planet.

Even becoming one is insanely competitive, requiring years of training, top-level qualifications and a tolerance for risky situations.

Amazingly so, astronauts risk their lives travelling to space to come home with stories worth millions - but the paychecks don’t match.

Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the Moon and arguably the most famous astronaut of all time.

Advert

peepo / Getty
peepo / Getty

However, at the time of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon, Armstrong was apparently paid a salary of $27,401 (according to the book This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury). That made him the highest-paid astronaut on the crew.

Adjusting for inflation since then, that salary equates to something above $225,000 - a suitable figure for someone taking one of the biggest risks in human history.

But let's break it down into hourly chunks.

Advert

Armstrong spent about 2 hours and 40 minutes on the Moon’s surface, so let’s round that up to 3 hours.

Based on his 1969 salary, he would've roughly earned $33 for that time - which is about $280 in today's money.

This is an astonishing figure given the nature of the job and basically leaving Earth to do so!

And if astronaut salaries weren’t already underwhelming, getting stranded in space doesn’t come with a bonus payout either.

Advert

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were originally scheduled for a short 8-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). But that trip has turned into 251 days and counting, with no confirmed return date on the horizon.

According to retired NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, these unlucky astronauts won't be granted any special overtime beyond their standard salaried pay packet.

Encyclopaedia Britannica / Contributor / Getty
Encyclopaedia Britannica / Contributor / Getty

"There is some small amount of money every day for incidentals that they end up being legally obligated to pay you," Coleman explained.

Advert

And by small, we mean small. The extra money they receive is likely around just $4 per day.

That means Wilmore and Williams have earned just $1,004 each in additional pay for their unexpected 8-month stay in space.

Furthermore, junior astronauts today reportedly start at just $50,000 a year, which is lower than you'd think for such a dangerous and prestigious job.

That said, the space scientists do have one big financial advantage after they return to Earth which is the status they receive.

Advert

Many makeup for their lack of paycheck through paid appearances, speeches and conferences.

Choose your content:

15 hours ago
16 hours ago
20 hours ago
22 hours ago
  • 15 hours ago

    Space capsule carrying ashes of 166 people plunges to Earth after hitting 'anomaly'

    It was only the second attempt at the mission

    Science
  • 16 hours ago

    Scientists make breakthrough in search for Amelia Earhart's plane that's been missing for 88 years

    Earhart mysteriously disappeared in 1937, leaving no trace of her whereabouts

    Science
  • 20 hours ago

    Groundbreaking drug can 'bring brain back to life' as Parkinson's reversal hope grows

    This could be a major breakthrough in cognitive health treatments

    Science
  • 22 hours ago

    Real story behind Africa's $12 trillion gold discovery after 31 million tonne rare metal discovery

    Experts have cast down on the original Ugandan claims

    Science
  • Shocking amount of money stranded astronauts are likely to be paid after 8-day mission turned into 251 days
  • Shocking amount of money stranded astronauts are likely to be paid after 8-day mission turned into over 9 months
  • How much astronauts actually get paid is shocking
  • Elon Musk ignites Moon landing conspiracy theories with new post using picture of Neil Armstrong