Will Sunita Williams be paid for overtime in space? Trump responds

President Donald Trump has offered to pay the overtime salary of astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who returned to Earth earlier this week after an unexpected nine-month stay in space, out of his “own pocket”.

Williams and Wilmore spent an additional 278 days in space after their week-long mission in June last year turned into a nine-month ordeal following technical glitches in the Boeing spacecraft that flew them to the International Space Station (ISS).

When Trump was asked by a reporter at the White House if the astronauts would receive any extra pay, the President said, “Nobody’s ever mentioned this to me. If I have to, I will pay it out of my own pocket.”

Interestingly, as per the policy, Williams and Wilmore will not receive any salary for the extra time spent in space. Nasa astronauts are US federal employees, and they get a fixed salary irrespective of how long they remain in space.

However, Nasa takes care of their transportation, food, and lodging. The only pay they are entitled to due to extra time is a meagre daily allowance for incidentals, which is just USD 5 per day (Rs 430). Thus, Williams and Wilmore, despite enduring immense physical and mental toll, will get USD 1,430 (Rs 1,22,980.50) in extra pay.

When this was brought to Trump’s attention, he said, “Is that all? That’s not a lot for what they had to go through.”

NASA astronauts, such as Wilmore and Williams, have a 40-hour workweek, and they don’t get any overtime pay, weekend pay, or holiday pay.

According to a report, Williams, who has considerable experience in missions, falls under GS-15 level, earning USD 152,258 (Rs 1,30,92,726.32) annually, in addition to health insurance and housing allowance.

PRAISES ELON MUSK

The eccentric Republican once again heaped praise on his “cost-cutting” aide and tech titan Elon Musk for bringing the stranded astronauts back. Trump said the “body starts to deteriorate” after a few months in space.

“If we don’t have Elon. They could be up there a long time. Who else is going to get them?” he said.

The astronauts splashed down on Earth on March 19 aboard Musk-owned SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. Both Trump and Musk have accused the previous Joe Biden administration of abandoning Williams and Wilmore in space.