There is a reason why the stranded astronauts are likely to be paid as little as $4 extra a day for their 251 days in space.
In case you missed it, two astronauts have been stuck in space since June 2024, and it looks like they won’t be home until at least March.
Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore embarked on what was meant to be an eight day mission in space, until their Boeing Starliner spacecraft suffered technical difficulties and was deemed too unsafe to make the return trip with people onboard.
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Instead, the astronauts have been waiting aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for a SpaceX spacecraft to arrive that will take them home.
And you’d think spending all that time in space would come with some serious money, but you would be wrong.
In fact, you might be shocked to find out exactly how much the two NASA astronauts are getting paid for being stranded above the atmosphere for months on end, as the truth has been revealed by one retired astronaut.
And it doesn’t seem like either of them are getting much in the way of financial compensation after being stuck in a situation way out of their control.
Retired NASA astronaut Cady Coleman revealed all in an interview, sharing that the astronauts don’t get any special overtime beyond their standard salaried pay packet.
Instead, the former astronaut indicated that as federal employees, taking a trip to space has the same concessions as any other Earth-bound business trip.
Coleman said: “There is some small amount of money every day for incidentals that they end up being legally obligated to pay you.”
However, don’t get your hopes too high and this amount is likely to be around $4 per day, working out at an extra $1,004 each for their time so far.
While they appear to be making the most of their time in space, with the ISS posting images to Instagram from a pizza night the crew enjoyed, you would expect that there would be a bit more financial compensation heading their way for the months they have spent trapped.
It is hoped that the pair will soon be Earth-bound, with the date of their return now estimated for March 12.
In a tweet, NASA wrote: “NASA and SpaceX are accelerating the target launch and return dates for the upcoming crew rotation missions to and from @Space_Station.”