dailyloe.com – NASA’s Artemis II astronauts are returning to Earth after a historic lunar mission. The crew includes Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen also participated.
They will not receive performance bonuses or hazard pay. Their compensation is a standard government salary. U.S. crew members earn a maximum of about $152,000.
Canadian astronaut pay follows a similar sliding scale. This pay is comparable to mid-career desk jobs. It also mirrors skilled trade roles like electricians.
A NASA spokesperson confirmed details to Fortune last year. The agency covers transportation, lodging, and meals. Astronauts get a small daily stipend of about $5.
NASA’s 2025 astronaut class had 10 candidates. They were chosen from over 8,000 applicants. The acceptance rate was roughly 0.125 percent.
Business leaders see space as a future workplace. Google CEO Sundar Pichai discussed orbital data centers. He hopes to test hardware as early as 2027.
Pichai told Fox News about this in December. He believes space data centers will be normal. This could happen in about a decade.
Elon Musk also aims to build data centers in space. He is the CEO of SpaceX. Musk wants to solve AI’s power problems.
Musk shared his plans on X in February. SpaceX now focuses on a moon city. He targets this goal within the next decade.
He considers a moon city more achievable than Mars. The company’s mission is to extend consciousness. Musk wants life to reach the stars.[]
Source: Fortune
