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Trump is asked if astronauts stranded on the ISS for 9 months will be paid for "overtime", here's how he responds

2025-03-24 16:40:00Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Trump is asked if astronauts stranded on the ISS for 9 months will be paid for
Sunita Williams

US President Donald Trump was asked about possible overtime compensation for Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, the two astronauts who returned to Earth earlier this week after being "stranded" on the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months.

The two launched to the ISS on June 5 aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft for a mission of about 10 days, but problems with the spacecraft extended their mission to 286 days.

For both, the unexpected extension of their stay aboard the orbital laboratory should not be compensated with additional pay, but simply calculated based on the "ancillary expenses" that NASA typically pays its astronauts for each day spent on a mission.

In practice, the two astronauts should not receive any compensation for the overtime, but only an expense reimbursement, which Donald Trump initially said he was willing to cover personally. "Nobody has talked to me about it. If I have to, I will pay for it out of my own pocket," the US president replied to a reporter's question about the overtime.

When Trump was then informed of the "additional costs" from NASA, which only amounted to about an additional $5 per day, the President's response was immediate.

According to Trump, NASA's reimbursement for "incidental expenses" is not enough for the two astronauts who were stranded for nine months on the International Space Station.

The figure is about 5 euros per day, or just 1,430 euros for the 286 days spent in space by Williams and Wilmore, which would be added to their annual salary, of about 152,250 dollars gross each. This is because astronauts are considered federal employees and, as such, receive the same treatment as other government employees. For this reason, they do not receive additional pay for extended missions, including overtime, weekends or holidays. Therefore, even an extension of a space mission would be considered official travel.

For Trump, however, the number is small. "Is that all? It's not much for what they've been through," added Trump, who, during a press conference in the Oval Office, thanked Elon Musk for bringing the astronauts home. "If we didn't have Elon... they would have been up there a long time. Who else would have taken them? The body starts to deteriorate after 9-10 months in space. Think about it. He (Elon Musk, ed.) is having a hard time right now."


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