NASA is one of the most respected companies in the world. Some could argue that it is also one of the most respected outside of the world, being that it is, of course, a space-related company.
NASA sends its astronauts on dangerous missions, and many of them don’t end how they’re assumed to, so their astronauts are paid a nice salary. However, NASA has decided to do one of the most interesting things ever.
The space exploration company sent two astronauts to orbit in space on June 5, 2024. They were scheduled to stay for just eight days. However, they remained in orbit for 286 days, only returning to the coast of Florida very recently.
Since they were in space for much longer than expected, many people thought that the astronauts would be handsomely compensated. However, according to one source, that is not the case.
NASA Astronauts To Be Paid $5 A Day
In an X post, Worldstar claims that the two astronauts, Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, are going to be paid just $5 for every day they spent in orbit without knowing when they’d be back.
Two astronauts spent 286 days in space on a mission that was supposed to last just 8—and NASA is only paying them $5 a day. Because it's considered official government travel, no overtime applies. Their yearly salaries are about $150K. pic.twitter.com/lmVLycoIzl
— WORLDSTARHIPHOP (@WORLDSTAR) March 21, 2025
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“Because it’s considered official government travel, no overtime applies. Their yearly salaries are about $150K,” Worldstar said in the X post, which is something that arguably only NASA could get away with.
After everything is said and done, it will be interesting to hear if there will be any comments from Williams or Wilmore. It’s currently unknown what the two think about their compensation, but odds are they’re just happy to see their families again.
