Salaries for civilian Astronaut Candidates are based upon the Federal Government's General Schedule pay scale for grades GS-11 through GS-14. The grade is determined in accordance with each individual's academic achievements and experience. Currently a GS-11 starts at $59,493per year and a GS-14 can earn up to $130,257 per year.

Military Astronaut Candidates are detailed to the Johnson Space Center and remain in an active duty status for pay, benefits, leave, and other similar military matters.

If you are an active duty commissioned officer on aviation duty, you are entitled to Aviation Career incentive pay. Aviation career incentive pay is restricted to regular and reserve officers who hold, or are in training leading to, an aeronautical rating or designation and who engage and remain in aviation service on a career basis.

For officers above O-6 with less than 25 years of aviation service:

An officer in pay grade O-7 may not be paid at a rate greater than $200 a month; and
An officer in pay grade O-8 or above may not be paid at a rate greater than $206 a month.
Warrant officers with over 22 years of aviation service are payed at the rate for officers with over 14 years of aviation service. In time of war, the President may suspend the payment of aviation career incentive pay.

Years of Aviation Service (Including Flight Training) as an Officer
2 or less Over 2 Over 3 Over 4 Over 6
125.00 156.00 188.00 206.00 650.00

Years of Aviation Service (Including Flight Training) as an Officer
Over 14 Over 22 Over 23 Over 24 Over 25
840.00 585.00 495.00 385.00 250.00

Dorian

We beat Russia to the moon, not because its time had come, but because we wanted to be viewed as the world leader in science and technology.

Germany has their cars, we have NASA and Microsoft.

However, it is also true that ALL innovations look obvious in hindsight.

The thing to be careful of with the innovation argument is that innovations tend to happen when their time has come, not because of one person or organization. Had Edison been eaten by crocodiles before he invented the light bulb, we would not today be posting by candlelight. Someone else would have invented it in short order, because conditions were right.

To the extent commercially successful products have been helped by the space program, that's terrific, but I'll bet there was a cheaper way to get them.

We could also become Finland, but I would rather we still invest in the future. What direct benefits will come from a manned space program? Who can say.

But to deny that the space program helped develop huge advances in medical technology, computers, communications, and even mundane things like best practice process control is to deny history. Long term growth and innovation does not follow a predictable path but one – no investment leads to no results.

But the helps-the-economy argument is threadbare. If you believe any spending is good spending insofar as helping the economy goes, spending on NASA is as good as any other. But many virtues accrue to saving as well.