NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams and Buch Willmore, who went on an eight -day space mission. Both have been stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) for more than 9 months. Due to technical problems, both astronauts have not yet returned to Earth. It is expected that the two will return to Earth before March 19 and ride SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Meanwhile, the amount received to him for his long stay in space has also become a topic of discussion.
Fix overtime for astronauts
Retired NASA astronaut Caddy Coleman told Washingtonian, ‘There is no special overtime salary for astronauts. Since he is a federal employee, his time in space is considered as any regular work journey on earth. NASA pays the cost of living on their food and ISS. The only additional compensation they received is a small stipend for casual expenses. Only $ 4 (Rs 347) is reportedly received per day ‘.
During his 159 days of mission in 2010-11, Kolman received an additional salary of about $ 636 (more than Rs 55,000) in total. On this basis, Sunita Williams and Buch Wilmore can get only $ 1,148 (about Rs 1 lakh) as additional compensation after spending 287 days in space. NASA has said that astronauts are not technically trapped as they are actively working on ISS.
Sunita Williams is likely to get how much salary
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Buch Wilmore are classified under GS-15 salary grade, which is the highest level for federal employees under the General Schedule (GS) system. GS-15 government employees get an annual base salary between $ 125,133-$ 162,672 (about Rs 1.08 crore -1.41 crore). Williams and Wilmore will get a proportional salary between $ 93,850- $ 122,004 (about Rs 81 lakh – 1.05 crore) to stay 9 months on ISS.
At the same time, their total earnings for the mission, including $ 1,148 (about Rs 1 lakh) as casual salary, are expected to be 94,998 – 123,152 (about 82 lakh rupees – 1.06 crore rupees).
Live @Nasa+ Coverage is now Scheduled for 10:25 pm Et Today as Four @Spacex #Crew10 Members approach the space station aboard the dragon spacecraft for a docking at 12:07 am sunday. Watch here … https://t.co/of6yyqgrwoz pic.twitter.com/tcg9nawfha
– International Space Station (@Space_Station) March 15, 2025
NASA approval to relief mission
Sunita Williams and Buch Wilmore have faced several delays in return due to technical problems in the spacecraft due to NASA’s Boeing Starlineer test flight. NASA has recently approved a relief mission and was successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 pm on Friday evening, the SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket carrying the dragon spacecraft. Dragon reached ISS at around 10 am.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 Mission has reached ISS, with four new crew members. NASA astronaut Anne McClane and Nicole Aarns, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roskosomos astronaut Kiril Peskov.
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