President Trump Offers to Pay Astronauts More After Extended Space Mission
President Donald Trump expressed his support for NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who spent nearly 10 months on the International Space Station after an eight-day test flight of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. The president, speaking in the Oval Office, stated that the astronauts should be compensated more than the $5 a day they were set to receive for their 286 days in space.
When asked if the government could do anything about their pay, Trump responded, “If I have to, I’ll pay it out of my own pocket, OK? I’ll get it for them.” He emphasized that the current pay was insufficient considering the challenges they faced.
Elon Musk, whose SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule brought the astronauts back to Earth, was also acknowledged by the president for his role in the mission. NASA has been contacted for confirmation of the additional pay and details on the astronauts’ overtime compensation.
Wilmore and Williams, who underwent the longest mission extension in NASA history, were prepared for the possibility of an extended stay before their launch. Despite having a way home, safety concerns and mission requirements kept them onboard for an extended period.
During their time in space, the astronauts contributed to ongoing experiments, maintenance work, and received training on re-entry and splashdown procedures for the new spacecraft. Williams set a record for the most time spent spacewalking by a woman and ranks second in total days in space among NASA astronauts.
Wilmore, who has now spent a total of 464 days in space over three missions, and Williams have experience flying in multiple human-rated spacecraft types, including the Space Shuttle, Russian Soyuz, Boeing Starliner, and SpaceX Crew Dragon.
