NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are finally returning to Earth after spending nearly nine months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Their extended stay, which began in June 2023, was due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, delaying their return far beyond the originally planned one-week mission.
Now, a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft has docked at the ISS to bring them back, along with an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut.
As the two astronauts prepare to return, reports indicate that NASA will compensate them for their prolonged mission. However, their earnings are structured differently from traditional overtime pay.
Former NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, speaking to Washingtonian, explained that astronauts receive their standard salary without overtime benefits. “There is some small amount of money per day for incidentals that they end up being legally obligated to pay you,” she said. “For me, it was around $4 a day.”
Based on Coleman’s experience from her 159-day mission in 2010-11—where she received approximately $636 in incidental pay—Williams and Wilmore, who have spent 287 days in space, are expected to earn around $1,148 each in additional allowances.
Williams and Wilmore hold GS-15 rankings, the highest tier in the US General Pay Schedule. Their base salaries range between $125,133 and $162,672 per year. Given their extended stay, their prorated earnings for the additional nine months amount to between $93,850 and $122,004. Factoring in the incidentals, their total estimated earnings from the mission will be between $94,998 and $123,152.
NASA has confirmed that their return is scheduled for the evening of March 18. The SpaceX capsule carrying Williams, Wilmore, and two other astronauts is set to undock from the ISS early Tuesday, weather permitting. The undocking process is scheduled to begin at 12:45 am EDT (10:15 am IST) on 18 March, with splashdown expected at approximately 5:57 pm EDT (3:27 am IST, Wednesday).
Williams and Wilmore’s mission, originally meant to last just a week, has now stretched to nine months—marking an unexpected chapter in the first-ever crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner
