Off The Record
After The 8-Day Mission Was Extended To 251 Days, The Stranded Astronauts Are Expected To Receive An Astounding Sum Of Money
According to one retired astronaut, you may be surprised to learn the precise amount that the two NASA astronauts get paid for being stranded on the ISS.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams’ predicament is widely known; their eight-day journey to the ISS has now expanded to a 251-day stay, with no immediate plans to return.
They have been stuck there for a long time for two reasons, although they are mostly related to the same issue: spacecraft technical breakdown.
Their intended return mission has been postponed due to problems with the SpaceX Crew-10 C213 Dragon capsule that would serve the required changeover protocol, in addition to the technical concerns that first left them stranded in space with their Boeing Starliner aircraft.
Since no one has been available to transfer places, Williams and Wilmore have been effectively left “stranded.” NASA requires that any astronaut returning from the ISS provide a simultaneous changeover with an incoming expedition.
Although that isn’t necessarily the case, at least according to astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell in an interview with Washingtonian. McDowell outlines that “the party line at NASA is that the astronauts are not stranded,” insisting that “it’s way overblown.”
“They’re fine,” McDowell explains. “They just got to do an extra spacewalk, which they love. They’ll come home on the next ride.”
However, that doesn’t address the health issues that many people have with the couple, as photos have shown how “gaunt” they appear, and reports suggest that hours of daily exercise are necessary to prevent serious health issues.
The fact that they don’t appear to be receiving much financial compensation after being trapped in a circumstance that was completely beyond their control only serves to increase their suffering.
In the same interview, retired NASA astronaut Cady Coleman explains that the astronauts receive no additional overtime beyond their regular salary package, meaning that as federal employees, they have the same privileges when traveling to space as when traveling on any other business trip on Earth.
“There is some small amount of money every say for incidentals that they end up being legally obligated to pay you,” Coleman informs, but this is likely to be around just $4 per day, working out to an extra $1,004 each for their time so far.
As McDowell has shown, they are probably having a good time in space, but given the sacrifices they have made, such as consuming soup produced from their own urine, you would think there would be a little more effort made to make up for it.
However, it should not be too long until the two return to Earth, as a scheduled flight is scheduled to take off in mid-March.
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