NASA astronauts stranded in space ‘to be paid’ shocking amount after eight day mission turned into over nine months

Astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Sunita 'Suni' Williams might finally be coming back down to Earth after nine months in space.

The pair were sent up to the International Space Station (ISS) by NASA back in June 2024 for what was meant to be an eight-day mission.

But following a number of technical issues with their Boeing Starliner Capsule, they have been left stranded in orbit for over nine months.

Finally though, the astronauts can mark a return date in their calendars, as the rocket with a replacement crew is en-route to the ISS, 400km above the world's surface.

The joint SpaceX and NASA venture has been in the works for months after Elon Musk agreed to assist with the mission.

As the date of their rescue was pushed back, the mission was set to launch earlier this week, but due to a hydraulic issue, it was pushed back to launch on Friday (14 March).

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off from Florida with four astronauts aboard, meaning that, barring any issues, Wilmore and Williams can finally come home.

Despite the pair saying that they were prepared to stay for months, Crew-10 is coming to the rescue, with the arrival at ISS expected tonight (15 March).

Those onboard are NASA's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, as well as Japan's Takuya Onishi and Russia's Kirill Peskov, who are set to spend six months onboard the ISS.

But with their mission overrunning by about 38 weeks or so, you'd think that they'd get a hefty increase in pay.

The astronauts can look forward to experiencing gravity again (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Well, you'd be wrong to assume that, as retired NASA astronaut Cady Coleman revealed that there's no special overtime pay beyond the standard salary.

She explained that they are essentially federal employees, with time in space treated like a work trip on Earth, sadly.

Coleman added: "There is some small amount of money every say for incidentals that they end up being legally obligated to pay you," but followed this up by revealing that this works out to around $4 (£3) per day, adding up to just just over $1000 (£770) for their time on the ISS.

As well as this, NASA has insisted throughout this ordeal that the astronauts were never really 'stranded'.

It's a tough break to say the least, but the pair have remained in high spirits throughout their time in space, even completing a space walk earlier this year.

The astronauts should be returning home in the next few days (YouTube/NASA)

Looking back on their stay in a press conference earlier this month, Williams spoke about the hardest part of the pair's unplanned stay aboard the spacecraft.

It's all to do with the fact that they've been unable to see their families and loved ones, adding: “It’s been a roller coaster for them, probably a little more so than for us.”

She later explained: "We came up prepared to stay long, even though we planned to stay short. That's what we do in human space flight.

"That's what your nation's human space flight program is all about, planning for unknown, unexpected contingencies. And we did that."