Former President Donald Trump has stirred attention by pledging to personally cover the overtime salaries of astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore after their prolonged, unplanned nine-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Originally scheduled for a week-long mission in June last year, the two astronauts ended up spending an additional 278 days in orbit due to persistent technical failures with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that transported them to the ISS.
During a White House press interaction, Trump appeared visibly surprised when asked whether the astronauts would receive any additional compensation for the extended duration of their mission. He responded, "Nobody's ever mentioned this to me. If I have to, I will pay it out of my own pocket." His statement came after it was revealed that NASA astronauts, classified as federal employees, receive fixed salaries that remain unaffected by mission length or unexpected delays.
Under current federal policies, astronauts are entitled to only a minimal daily allowance of $5 (Rs 430) for incidentals — totaling a mere $1,430 (Rs 1,22,980) for the 278 extra days Williams and Wilmore endured in space. This sparked outrage among many, especially after it was acknowledged that the astronauts faced severe physical and psychological tolls during the extended mission. Upon hearing the figure, Trump expressed disbelief, commenting, "Is that all? That's not a lot for what they had to go through."
Williams, a highly decorated astronaut with multiple missions under her belt, holds a GS-15 pay grade — one of the highest for federal civil servants — earning approximately $152,258 (Rs 1.3 crore) annually. Along with her salary, she receives standard federal employee benefits, including health insurance and housing allowances. However, NASA astronauts do not receive overtime, weekend pay, or holiday compensation, regardless of how long they stay in space or their extraordinary challenges.
In his remarks, Trump went on to shower praise on tech billionaire Elon Musk, whose SpaceX Dragon capsule successfully retrieved the stranded astronauts and brought them back to Earth on March 19. He lauded Musk’s role, calling him a "cost-cutting genius" and suggesting that without him, Williams and Wilmore might have been stuck in space indefinitely. "If we don't have Elon, they could be up there a long time. Who else is going to get them?" Trump remarked, crediting Musk's private sector innovation for the rescue.
The former president also took a swipe at the Biden administration, claiming that they had "abandoned" the astronauts. Both Trump and Musk have criticized the current leadership for what they described as negligence and poor handling of the astronauts' prolonged mission, suggesting that the situation could have been resolved more swiftly with better management.
Trump’s unexpected promise to pay the astronauts’ wages, while seen by some as a symbolic gesture, has sparked a broader discussion about astronaut compensation and the value placed on those who push the boundaries of human exploration. The incident has also reignited debates on whether private companies like SpaceX should continue to play a leading role in space missions — a role once dominated exclusively by NASA and other government agencies.
Williams and Wilmore, meanwhile, have returned to a hero’s welcome, praised for their resilience and professionalism throughout the ordeal. Whether Trump’s offer to pay their overtime materializes or not, the conversation he’s sparked about astronaut compensation — and the role of the private sector in space exploration — is likely to continue long after the astronauts have adjusted to life back on Earth.
