Featured Image Credit: Encyclopaedia Britannica / Contributor / Getty
Being an astronaut is one of the toughest jobs on the planet.
Even becoming one is insanely competitive, requiring years of training, top-level qualifications and a tolerance for risky situations.
Amazingly so, astronauts risk their lives travelling to space to come home with stories worth millions - but the paychecks don’t match.
Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the Moon and arguably the most famous astronaut of all time.
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However, at the time of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon, Armstrong was apparently paid a salary of $27,401 (according to the book This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury). That made him the highest-paid astronaut on the crew.
Adjusting for inflation since then, that salary equates to something above $225,000 - a suitable figure for someone taking one of the biggest risks in human history.
But let's break it down into hourly chunks.
Armstrong spent about 2 hours and 40 minutes on the Moon’s surface, so let’s round that up to 3 hours.
Based on his 1969 salary, he would've roughly earned $33 for that time - which is about $280 in today's money.
This is an astonishing figure given the nature of the job and basically leaving Earth to do so!
And if astronaut salaries weren’t already underwhelming, getting stranded in space doesn’t come with a bonus payout either.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were originally scheduled for a short 8-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). But that trip has turned into 251 days and counting, with no confirmed return date on the horizon.
According to retired NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, these unlucky astronauts won't be granted any special overtime beyond their standard salaried pay packet.
"There is some small amount of money every day for incidentals that they end up being legally obligated to pay you," Coleman explained.
And by small, we mean small. The extra money they receive is likely around just $4 per day.
That means Wilmore and Williams have earned just $1,004 each in additional pay for their unexpected 8-month stay in space.
Furthermore, junior astronauts today reportedly start at just $50,000 a year, which is lower than you'd think for such a dangerous and prestigious job.
That said, the space scientists do have one big financial advantage after they return to Earth which is the status they receive.
Many makeup for their lack of paycheck through paid appearances, speeches and conferences.
