Sunita Williams Homecoming: How Much Will NASA Pay Her and Butch Wilmore?

The topic of discussion over the past few days has been around Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams and her highly anticipated return to the Earth after spending 9 long months at the International Space Station. Initially sent by NASA last year, Sunita and Butch Wilmore faced a lot of delays in their return, and there was a huge controversy surrounding the previous U.S. government led by Joe Biden over this reported delay. However, Sunita made it clear that the more time she spends in space, the more she enjoys it.

When Donald Trump came to power, he and Elon Musk made it clear that their intention is to bring the astronauts back to Earth, and they will do everything in their might to get them safely back to their homes. But the process was not easy. Musk's SpaceX team finally put up a mission to the ISS, and NASA has chosen astronauts as replacements for Sunita and Butch.

The SpaceX Crew-10 Mission is currently ongoing, and it has the responsibility to bring Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore back to Earth. In all likelihood, the mission will end up being a success. During her time in space, both astronauts gave multiple interviews about how they are focusing solely on their work and nothing else. In fact, Sunita and Butch's additional time spent in ISS ended up helping NASA as well.

Now, an interesting question arises. How much does NASA pay to Sunita and Butch for their adventurous time in space at the ISS? According to various reports, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are classified under the GS-15 pay grade, the highest level for federal employees under the General Schedule (GS) system. GS-15 government employees receive an annual base salary ranging between $125,133 and $162,672. In approximate Indian rupee terms, this ranges somewhere between Rs 1.08 crore and Rs 1.41 crore.

As the mission got extended and the astronauts had to stay for more than 9 months, both Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will earn a prorated salary between $93,850 and $122,004 (between Rs.81 lakh and Rs.1.05 crore).

It is also important to note that an additional Rs. 1 lakh ($1,148) will be given as incidental pay; their total earnings for the mission will be between Rs. 82 lakh and Rs. 1.06 crore ($94,998 - $123,152).