...
By Anna Skinner
Associate News Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams won't receive any overtime pay for the extra time they spent at the International Space Station (ISS) after being stuck in space since June.
The Context
Wilmore and Williams arrived home on Tuesday after nine months in space. Their trip to the ISS was only supposed to last around a week but was extended to more than nine months due to technical issues with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.
Read More on U.S.
On Sunday, a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule brought replacement astronauts to the ISS, and Wilmore and Williams were able to return home.
...
What To Know
Wilmore and Williams launched on what they originally thought was going to be an eight-day mission on June 5, but NASA officials determined it was unsafe for the astronauts to return to Earth in the Starliner due to propulsion issues. The space agency then had to use an alternative method to bring the astronauts home.
Despite being stuck in space for 278 days longer than originally expected, Wilmore and Williams did not receive overtime pay, a NASA spokesperson told Newsweek.
Standard procedure is that astronauts receive regular, 40-hour workweek salaries when they're aboard the ISS. This does not include any overtime or holiday pay.
But astronauts do receive incidental pay of $5 for each day they spend in space. Since Wilmore and Williams spent 286 days in space, this amounts to $1,430 in incidental pay for each astronaut.
NASA shared several posts on X, formerly Twitter, to document the astronauts' return to Earth on Tuesday. One video shows the spacecraft splashing down into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. Another shows a pod of curious dolphins swimming around the spacecraft shortly after splashdown, providing "extra meaning" to the return home.
What People Are Saying
A NASA spokesperson told Newsweek: "When NASA astronauts are aboard the International Space Station, they receive regular, 40-hour work-week salaries. They do not receive overtime or holiday/weekend pay. While in space, NASA astronauts are on official travel orders as federal employees, so their transportation, lodging, and meals are provided. They also are on long-term TDY [temporary duty], and receive the incidentals amount for each day they are in space. Incidental expenses for travel to any location is currently $5 per day."
What Happens Next
The Crew-10 team, which replaced Wilmore and Williams, consists of NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. The team is expected to stay at the ISS for six months.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines