Will Sunita Williams receive an overtime payment for your 9 -month stay in space? Here is how much she will win

Last update:March 17, 2025, 14:38 IST

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are expected to have been trapped in space for more than nine months, return to Earth on March 18.

NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague and Sunita Williams, and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. (POT)

After spending more than 287 days at the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, will finally return home as a Dragon spacecraft of the Spacex crew arrived at the station to take them to the earth.

The duo was supposed to remain in space for just over a week, but the technical problems with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft forced them to extend their visit. NASA has confirmed that the Astronauts will return home At 5:57 pm on Tuesday (3:30 am, March 19, Indian time).

NASA also declared that it will be the live broadcast of the return of the Spacex-9 crew to the Earth. The coverage will begin with the closing preparations of the Dragon spacecraft hatch, which will take place at 10:45 PM EDT on Monday (March 17).

Amid the growing anticipation for their return, people are also curious about whether Williams and Wilmore will obtain some compensation of extra hours for their extended stay in space, such as several employees in other sectors.

Also read: This is what 9 months in space could do to Sunita Williams and the health of Butch Wilmore

How much will these astronauts win?

If someone wonders if the two stranded astronauts are paid overtime for their stay in the ISS, the short answer is no. According to Nasa Cady Coleman, Williams and Wilmore are obtaining their regular salary and without overtime, while NASA is responsible for transportation, accommodation and food.

“There is a small amount of money per day for taxes that end legally obliged to pay him,” Coleman said saying Washingtonianadding that they paid $ 4 per day during their stay in space.

For their stay in space during 2010-11, Coleman obtained a total of approximately $ 636 (RS 55,000). It is likely that calculating similar estimates, Williams and Wilmore receive around $ 1,148 (RS 1 Lakh) as additional compensation for staying more than 287 days in space, which can be considered less, given its extreme conditions.

According to reports, both astronauts fall under the GS-15, the highest range of general payment schedule. This section of government employees receives a base salary of between $ 125,133.00 and $ 162,672.00 (RS 1.08 million rupees at RS 1.41 million rupees), depending on its general passage.

The payment scale of the general schedule is the most used salary scale for federal white collar civil employees (more than 1.5 million in total), with positions ranging from administrative jobs to management and technical.

According to this scale, the prorated salary of the two astronauts during the time of their extended stay and the space falls between $ 93,850 and $ 122,004 (RS 81 Lakh to RS 1.05 million rupees). With the additional $ 1,148 in incidental salary, their profits would increase between $ 94,998 and $ 1,23,152 (82 LAKH to RS 1.06 million rupees).

What caused the extended stay?

The duo, which initially planned to stay in the ISS for eight days, has been caught in space for nine months after the technical problems developed in the Starliner spacecraft of Boeing.

During their ISS approach, five of the 28 propulsors of the Starliner spacecraft transported by Williams and Wilmore failed, which extended their trip from days to months in space. His extended delay promoted health concerns as the images showed that Williams underwent a drastic weight loss.

They were prepared to return to the Earth in the Dragon Capsule of the Spacex crew, which was scheduled to arrive in February 2025. However, NASA said Tuesday that the crew-10, which would relieve the crew and the stranded couple, now it would now be launched before March 2025, and both teams would remain on board for a “hand period.”

NASA’s-10 crew reached the ISS when the Spacex Dragon spacecraft successfully docked Sunday. Specialist in the Cosmonaut Mission Kirill Peskov of Russos of Russia, the pilot Nichole Ayers and the commander Anne McClain of the United States, and the specialist in Mission Takuya Onishi of Japan Jaxa will replace the varied astronauts and two more

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, and his close ally, Elon Musk, have repeatedly stated that the two astronauts were stranded in the ISS by the previous Joe Biden administration for “political reasons.”

Location :

Washington DC, United States of America (USA)