(Image source from: Twitter.com/Space_Station)
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore embarked on an eight-day mission but have unexpectedly found themselves on the International Space Station (ISS) for over nine months due to unforeseen technical difficulties. As they get ready for their return to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, scheduled for no earlier than March 19, discussions have arisen regarding their compensation for the extended duration in space. Retired NASA astronaut Cady Coleman has pointed out that astronauts do not receive special overtime pay. Being federal employees, their time spent in space is regarded similarly to any regular work assignment on Earth. They continue to earn their standard salary, with NASA taking care of their food and living costs while on the ISS.
The only extra compensation they receive is a modest daily allowance for miscellaneous expenses, which reportedly amounts to only $4 (approximately Rs 347) per day, as Ms. Coleman mentioned to Washingtonian. For context, during her 159-day mission from 2010 to 2011, she earned around $636 (more than Rs 55,000) in additional pay. By this same calculation, after being in space for over 287 days, Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore would likely receive about $1,148 (close to Rs 1 lakh) each in extra compensation. NASA maintains that the astronauts cannot be considered “stranded” since they have been engaged in work aboard the ISS.
Additionally, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore hold the GS-15 pay grade, the top tier for federal workers under the General Schedule (GS) system. GS-15 employees earn an annual base salary that falls between $125,133 and $162,672 (around Rs 1.08 crore to Rs 1.41 crore). For their extended nine-month period on the ISS, Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore will receive a prorated salary of approximately $93,850 to $122,004 (roughly Rs 81 lakh to Rs 1.05 crore). When factoring in the $1,148 (nearly Rs 1 lakh) for incidental expenses, their total earnings for the mission are anticipated to be between $94,998 and $123,152 (about Rs 82 lakh to Rs 1.06 crore).
As participants in NASA's Boeing Starliner test flight, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore experienced several delays in their return due to technical problems with the spacecraft. Recently, NASA approved a relief mission, leading to a successful launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 pm ET on Friday (4:33 am IST). The Dragon successfully docked with the ISS around 10 am. The arrival of NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 mission brought four new crew members to the ISS: NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
