Astronauts

[bednobs]

How much do you think time peake gets paid for being away for six months?

[Gavmacp]

I was wondering whose shirts he wears?

[Old_Geezer]

His own ?

[Quizproquo]

Bednobs - a blooming fortune and he deserves every penny. He's our first non-NASA astronaut and I'm very proud of him. He risked his life to get there and he's risking it again every minute until he lands safely on Earth, all in the name of discovery and wonder. A hero IMO.

Gavmacp - I believe he's partial to Primarni. ;)

[DaisyNonna]

What about his family?

[douglas9401]

"Astronaut Grades range between GS-13 and GS-15. As such, the lowest earning astronaut (GS-13 at Step 1) will be pulling away approximately $71,600, while the highest earning astronaut (GS-15 at Step 10) will be making approximately $129,500. A modest living compared to private sector potential for top notch talent, would be putting it mildly, but it’s not a bad living on the face of it."

http://www.geektime.com/2014/12/24/how-much-money-does-an-astronaut-make/

[Buenchico]

Tim Peake is probably on ESA Grade A3 at the moment, with promotion to A4 likely to follow once he's completed the flight. So he'll currently be getting around £55,000 pa, rising to £65,000.

So he earns about the same as an experienced London Tube driver.

Sources:
http://www.universetoday.com/41252/astronaut-salary/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/11782636/How-much-do-tube-drivers-get-paid-and-why-are-they-striking-now.html

[Buenchico]

The salaries quoted by Douglas are for NASA astronauts. TP is employed by ESA.

[Old_Geezer]

Clearly I should have trained as a tube driver.

[Cloverjo]

Gosh. If my son's job as a software engineer doesn't work out, I should advise him to try tube driving.
Tim Peake doesn't get an awful lot for all the risks he's taking. I'm terrified for him on his space walk onFriday.

[1ozzy]

Hi Clover, one of my sons is in his last year of Uni, studying mechanical, electronic and computor engineering, 5 years in total. If all else fails I'll send him back to the homeland and suggest he drives trains in tunnels ;-)

[Cloverjo]

Well, they've got to make a living somehow. I'd rather they used their expertise to work at the careers they studied for, but tube drivers do seem to be doing relatively well.

[1ozzy]

Pretty sure my son would tell me "I want to design driverless trains, not drive them".

Still sounds like a good bit of income to me though.

Hope your sons career is a success.

[Cloverjo]

Thank you, ozzy. He's doing ok at the moment. Hope yours does, too.

[bednobs]

it seems like an incredibly small amount to me. it's not like he can pop home on weekends off

[Cloverjo]

I agree, it does seem like a very small amount for what he's doing and the risks he's taking.