Sunita Williams and her partner Butch Wilmore, who have been stuck in space for the last 9 months, are about to return to Earth. They are finally going to return to Earth on March 18 through SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. After spending 9 months on the ISS, the biggest question that arises is whether NASA will pay them any extra for this long mission? Let's find out.
Sunita Williams is returning from space. NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and her partner Butch Wilmore, who went on a short eight-day mission, had to spend almost nine months in space. Their return was repeatedly postponed due to technical problems.
But now on March 18, she is finally going to return to Earth through SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. After spending 9 months on the ISS, the biggest question that arises is whether NASA will pay her any extra for this long mission? Let's find out?
Will NASA give extra salary?
Astronauts in NASA are government employees and there is no separate overtime payment for them. Their salary comes under the GS-15 pay grade, which is given to senior government officials in the US. According to this, Sunita Williams will get a salary of about Rs 81 lakh to Rs 1.05 crore for her 9-month long mission. But if you think that she will get a hefty bonus for staying in space for such a long time, then clear this misconception.
Only this much extra payment will be made
NASA gives astronauts an incidental allowance of just $4 (about ₹347) per day. This means that they will get an additional payment of only $1,148 (about ₹1 lakh) in the entire 287-day mission. It may be surprising for anyone to know that despite staying in space for so many months and taking risks, they are getting the same amount of allowance that someone might spend on lunch on Earth in a day.
What are the hazards with spacecraft?
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will cover a distance of 400 km in about 3 hours and splash down in the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. But returning to Earth is not that easy. According to experts, when the Dragon capsule enters the Earth's atmosphere, its angle must be absolutely correct.
Even a slight mistake can lead to a major accident. Earlier also, the crew has faced difficulties due to wrong entry angle during space missions. According to the information, Anne McLane, Nicole Ayers, Takuya Onishi and Kirill Peskov will now take over the new mission on the ISS in place of Sunita Williams and her colleague Butch Wilmore.
