Why do we pay..,.
... astronauts big bucks and train them for months and years when we can pay a bunch of teens minimum wage to run the shuttle after reading a book?
share[deleted]
MovieChat Forums > SpaceCamp (1986) Discussion > Why do we pay..,.
They don't make big bucks.
shareI know it seems trivial, but some people likely don't know and might want to.
Military astronauts get paid *beep* as they get military pay, plus bonus and hazard pay. Good money for them, crap to the rest of us.
As to the civilian astronauts, they start at 65,000 a year and can make in excess of 110,000 per year. Nothing to sneer at if they are based in Texas as our (I live in Houston) home prices are low, no state income tax and overall cost of living are very reasonable across the board. Now those based in Florida, I'm sure have quite a bit rougher financially but that is still an extremely livable income.