Overtime paid astronauts trap in space?

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams They are ready to return to Earth. Since they stayed In a trap in space for fuel leaks Boeing StarlinerThere were several suggestions to return them home, but for one reason or another it was postponed. Finally they will return in early March, after passing 9 months at the International Space StationThe mission should have been initially 8 days, so it is clear that they left the planned ones. And this makes us ask us the question: do astronauts charge extra hours?

This question is also asked in a recent article Iflscience in which they have statements Washington Chemistry and astronaut Katherine Coleman. She indicated that astronauts charge a fixed salary that does not depend on additional hours. Nevertheless, NASA is forced to utter a small additional payment in order to encounter possible incidents. This is a payment that should be made by law, but it is minimal About 4 dollars a day. At least it was a figure in the case of Coleman.

Taking into account what astronauts charge, these 4 dollars a day do not seem to be an incentive to want to make additional hours. Despite this, Wilmor and Williams say that their stay in space is not torture or much less. They are very enjoying this. In fact, Williams took the opportunity to defeat the story of a woman who did The longest space walk in historyOf course, there is no evil, which does not come forever.

How much do astronauts charge?

Each space agency has its own salaries. In the case of NASA, the agency to which Wilmore and Williams belong is paid to astronauts in accordance with the provisions of the GS-13 and GS-14 varieties on the US salary scale. Since 2022 it is equivalent to some 3891 dollar on average per month For GS-13 and some 4598 dollars per month For GS-14. In some cases, if they are very experienced, they can climb the GS-15 and levy up to $ 12,229 per month.

In the case of the European Space Agency (ESA), the recruits of the astronaut can win From 4500 to 5800 euros per monthBut as you can carry the experience of their salaries up to 8400 euros per month. On this aspect, the Spanish astronaut of this Pablo Alvarez recently explained in the program Insurrection This charges the same thing on Earth as during missions.

However, if the mission is lengthened, we have already seen that you must pay a small amount for additional hours. This is very little, but this plus of the risk is legally covered.

Wilmore and Williams are not tired

In the statements that they made during these 9 months, Wilmor and Williams assured that they were satisfied with their peers and activities that they committed during their stay at the International Space Station. They do not feel tired, although it will be logically looking forward to returning home. The fact that astronauts are levied in additional hours does not compensate for them.

In any case, although your case is very media, it is not so strange to stay in space longer than expected. To give an example, in September 2023, astronaut Frank Rubio and astronauts Sergei Prokopiev and Dmitry Petelin They returned to Earth after passing 371 days in spaceHis mission was planned for 6 months. However, the return was supposed to postpone Cooling liquid On the ship, the Union, which must pick them back. His business was like the payment of William and Wilmore, and, like them, the payment that they received in for extra hours, were minimal. And yet it is still exciting.