NASA astronauts stranded in space won’t get overtime pay — only $5 per day

NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams are reportedly not entitled to overtime pay for their ISS deployment, which has increased from 10 days to nine months. Like other government employees, they receive a fixed salary and are entitled to only $5 per day for incidentals. For 286 days on the ISS, they will each receive a $1,430 pay raise.

Image source: NASA

Wilmore and Williams launched to the station on June 5, 2024, aboard Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft. It was the capsule’s first test flight with a crew. As it approached the ISS, five of its orbital correction engines failed, and a helium leak was detected. The docking took place, but NASA did not risk returning the crew to Earth on the spacecraft, and instead of the planned 10 days, they were stuck in space for more than nine months.

After descending to Earth two days ago, both astronauts had to be immediately placed on stretchers after being removed from the capsule. They had lost significant amounts of bone and muscle tissue in zero gravity, a common occurrence on long-duration space missions. Both have admitted in separate interviews that they enjoyed their extended stay on the ISS, but a cash bonus would hardly have prevented them from feeling satisfied with a job well done. After all, the pilots were risking their lives on a test flight.

Astronauts earn about $152,258 a year. A $1,430 bonus for the entire period of stay in orbit does not seem like a worthy compensation for the risk and patience shown. However, we are unlikely to be wrong in assuming that this unfortunate misunderstanding will soon be resolved somehow. The fate of the Boeing Starliner pilots has caused a wide public outcry, and this will not go unnoticed.