The NASA astronauts that were stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months have been offered overtime pay by US President Donald Trump.
Trump spoke about the astronauts, who splashed down off the coast of Florida on Tuesday (18 March), during a press conference at the Oval Office on Friday.
The pair were onboard SpaceX's Dragon space capsule as they made their 18-hour journey back to Earth's surface after nine months on the ISS.
Originally heading up into the stars in June 2024, technical issues with their Boeing Starliner capsule meant they were stuck in orbit for much, much longer than anticipated.
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Just days after their arrival, Trump was questioned about the astronauts' overtime pay, as some have theorised about whether the NASA employees will get paid more for their time in space, given the mission ran over for such a length of time.
A clip from the encounter with a reporter made the rounds on social media, as the president was told the astronauts would not receive any overtime pay for their stay upon the ISS despite their mission being extended by 286 days.
The pair should be paid approximately $1,430 (£1,106) in overtime, the reporter claimed.
What has NASA said about pay?
A NASA spokesperson told FOX Business that usually, astronauts are paid 'regular, 40-hour work-week salaries' when aboard the ISS and 'do not receive overtime or holiday/weekend pay'.
"They are also on long-term TDY (Temporary Duty), and receive the incidentals amount for each day they are in space. Incidental expenses for travel to any location is currently $5 per day."
But when faced with the question of whether his administration would do anything about it, Trump said: "Well, nobody's ever mentioned this to me. If I have to to, I'll pay it out of my own pocket, okay? I'll get it for them."
"Is that all? That's not a lot for what they had to go through," the 78-year-old pointed out.
Prior to their return to Earth, Trump put the blame on the Biden administration, accusing it of 'abandoning' them aboard the ISS, as Elon Musk even alleged that he'd offered to bring them home earlier.
Both NASA and the astronauts denied knowledge of this, but Trump had previously told reporters in the White House: "We have two astronauts that are stuck in space.
"I have asked Elon (Musk), I said, ‘Do me a favour. Can you get them out?' He said, 'Yes...' You shouldn't have been up there so long."
On Friday, Trump took some time to thank Musk for helping to get the mission over the line.
'Think if we don't have him', he told reporters, as the businessman's company, SpaceX, had helped to provide a capsule to bring them back to Earth.
Topics: NASA, SpaceX, Donald Trump, Elon Musk
Joshua Nair