Astronaut (2024)

FAQs

How much do astronauts get paid? ›

What is the average NASA astronaut's salary? According to NASA, civilian astronaut salaries are determined by the US Government's pay scales – or more specifically grades GS-13 to GS-14. As of 2022, the GS-13 pay scale ranges from $81,216 to $105,579 per annum. This is up to $8,798.25 per month or $50.59 an hour.

Also known as: cosmonaut, taikonaut, yuhangyuan.

Astronaut refers to a person engaged in or trained for spaceflight. Cosmonaut is the term used for a Russian or Soviet astronaut. Cosmonaut is a borrowing of the Russian word kosmonávt.

According to NASA, candidates must have a height between 62 and 75 inches or 157.48 to 190.5 centimeters. Astronauts need to be tall enough to reach controls but not so tall that the suit or area onboard a spacecraft or the space station is too cramped.

Astronauts age a tiny bit slower than people on Earth because of time-dilation effects --- time moves slower as gravity increases. Time passes slower for objects closer to the center of Earth where gravity is stronger. The other factor is "relative velocity time dilation" where time moves slower as you move faster.

This is a list of Chinese astronauts, sometimes called taikonauts. The list includes people trained by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft.

Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel to space on June 16, 1963, when she orbited Earth as part of the Vostok 6 mission. Tereshkova spent almost three days in space during her solo mission.

Laika. Laika was a young, part-Samoyed terrier found as a stray in Moscow. She was chosen as the Soviet scientists believed a homeless animal would be better equipped to endure the cold, hunger and harsh conditions of space travel.

Candidates will not be selected if they have any food allergies, avoidances, or gastrointestinal disorders, as these cannot be accommodated on a long-duration mission. Candidates must be willing to provide requested biological samples on required days and must eat the spaceflight-like diet provided during the mission.

Is there a weight limit for astronauts? ›

Physical requirements

To be a commander or pilot astronaut, you need to be 158cm to 190cm tall, and to be a mission specialist you need to be between 149cm to 193cm. In general, astronauts should weigh between 50 and 95 kilograms (110 and 209 pounds) and measure between 149.5cm and 190.5cm.

MYTH: You have to be a certain age in order to be an astronaut. FACT: There are no age restrictions.

NASA pay FAQs

The average salary for an Astronaut is $131,701 per year (estimate) in United States, which is 81% higher than the average NASA salary of $72,521 per year (estimate) for this job.

As of Jul 14, 2024, the average hourly pay for a Nasa Astronaut in California is $25.66 an hour. While ZipRecruiter is seeing salaries as high as $33.21 and as low as $14.71, the majority of Nasa Astronaut salaries currently range between $19.90 (25th percentile) to $26.11 (75th percentile) in California.

The average NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration salary in the United States is $56,998 per year. NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration salaries range between $31,000 a year in the bottom 10th percentile to $102,000 in the top 90th percentile.

Like all civil servants, astronauts hired after Jan. 1, 1984 participate in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), a three-tiered retirement plan including Social Security, a pension plan and an optional Thrift Savings Plan.