Elon Musk celebrates the SpaceX team for “great work” by bringing marginalized astronauts home, dealing with “domestic terrorism” against his company about his relationship with Trump, and about “Hannity.”
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth on Tuesday after living in space for longer than expected.
Powered by Wilmore, Williams, fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hauge and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov (known as Crew 9), SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft landed in the US Bay near Tallahassee, Florida, where SpaceX crew quickly recovered, and the capsules were safe and sounded.
SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft will be seen Tuesday as they landed alongside astronauts Nick Hague, Snie Williams, Butch Willmore and astronaut Golbunov off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida. (Keegan Barber/NASA Via/Getty Images)
Crew 9's homecoming was led by NASA and SpaceX, and was replaced by the International Space Station (ISS) over the weekend with a new crew of four.
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Both Wilmore and Williams were notched in space for 286 days, but much longer than the roughly one week they were originally supposed to spend on the ISS when they arrived at Boeing's Starliner last June. Meanwhile, the Hague and Golvnov spent 171 days in space.
NASA astronauts Sniwilliams and Butchwillmore at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 5, 2024. (Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / via AFP / Getty Images)
As Crew 9 returns to Earth, with new astronauts guarding the ISS, we ask questions about how much NASA astronauts are making while they are in orbit.
“When NASA astronauts are on the International Space Station, they receive regular 40 hours of working week salary. They do not receive overtime or holiday/weekend wages,” a NASA spokesman told Fox Business.
According to the NASA webpage, NASA astronauts' salaries were over $152,000 last year.
A NASA spokesperson said NASA astronauts' transportation, accommodation and meals are being offered to NASA astronauts as they are in space “on official travel orders as federal employees.”
“They also have long-term TDY (temporary obligations) and receive daily contingent amounts of money they are in space,” a spokesman told Fox Business. “The contingent cost of travelling anywhere is currently $5 a day.”
That accidental rate would probably amount to $1,430 for Willmore and Williams.
The pair's long stay at the ISS came after NASA and Boeing brought the pair to space, Starliner, decided to return to unmanned Earth in early September. Starliner had experienced “helium leaks” and “spaceship reaction control thruster problems” as he approached the ISS during his June 2024 trip.
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Wilmore, Williams and The Hague conducted over 900 hours of research while in a research field that was on a trajectory about 250 miles on Earth.
“We are excited to be at home after months of maintaining the homes of Sni, Butch, Nick and Alexandre with science, technology demonstrations and on the International Space Station,” Janet Petro, acting NASA administrator, said in a press release Tuesday.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded to homecoming for 9 in an interview with Sean Hannity.
“In reality, I'm a bit nervous about these returns because there's always a risk that something goes wrong, but thanks to the excellent work of the SPACEX team, astronauts are safe at home,” he said.
Elon Musk celebrates the SpaceX team for “great work” by bringing marginalized astronauts home, dealing with “domestic terrorism” against his company about his relationship with Trump, and about “Hannity.”
The billionaire offered to congratulate SpaceX and the NASA team on “a great job” and “gifted a big note to President Trump for prioritizing and promoting return.”
White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt said Wednesday that President Donald Trump “looks forward to welcoming Butch and Sni into their oval offices when they recover.”
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Trump previously told Laura Ingraham's Angle host, who she had time to recover and would like to meet with the astronauts after returning home.
“They have to get better. It'll be a little difficult for them. It's not easy, you know they've been there for a long time, and when they do, they'll come to the oval office,” he told her.
