‘Just another day at the office’

Will Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore get overtime for staying longer in space than planned? Not a chance.
Williams and Wilmore, who returned to Earth on Tuesday after spending 286 days in space – 278 days longer than anticipated after their spacecraft malfunctioned – will not get any overtime for their unexpectedly long stay, according to NASA rules, the New York Times reported.
But they do get USD 5 a day for “incidentals”, the paper added.
Despite their far-flung destination and the danger of space travel, when it comes to pay, astronauts are treated effectively “like any other government employee who takes a business trip…”, the NYT said.
“While in space, NASA astronauts are on official travel orders as federal employees,” Jimi Russell, a spokesman for the agency’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, told NYT via email.
Williams and Wilmore were essentially unable to leave their workplace for more than nine months. But astronauts aboard the International Space Station receive no overtime, holiday or weekend pay, Russell said.
Their transportation, meals and lodging are covered, and like other federal employees on work trips, they receive a daily “incidentals” allowance, Russell said. This is a per diem payment given to employees in the place of reimbursements for travel expenses.