Files: $26M paid to Space shuttle Columbia families

ORLANDO, Fla. - NASA paid $26.6 million to family members of the astronauts who died on the space shuttle Columbia in 2003, a newspaper reported Sunday, citing recently released documents.

news.yahoo.com...;_ylt=AjwfEjUsAXt9eHIKeteWb9nq188F

(edit to fix title)

[edit on 15-4-2007 by Byrd]

I just came across that article. Interesting and eye-opening. I had no idea that family members of astronauts killed in the line of duty were compensated beyond some small stipend for funeral costs. (Like military families are.) It's good to see this. The article made me proud to be an American.

I read a CNN article stating two families asked NASA to get extra insurance before the flight and NASA failed to do so. Ok, those families have a gripe.

What I don't understand is the government, you and I as tax payers, paying money to all the families. OK, I sound like a mean old guy here. But why should we pay. The astronauts make so good money and have insurance on their life. They chose the job.

When other average citizens get killed, I do not see the government paying large sums of money. Is the rule, rich, famous, high profile, we pay big dollar, average citizen, near zilch.

Entry level 40 thousand a year is good pay for that kind of job? With their skills, considering the resume they'd have to have they would have been able to get a much higher paying job then that.

Would you have the same opinion if they would have done this for Test Pilots?

liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov...

If a student has hopes for a large salary comparable to those in the private sector--look elsewhere. Astronauts begin their salary in accordance with the US Government pay scale at GS-11 (approximately $39,000.) status and top off at GS-14 (approximately $78,000).

That's middle management pay at the high end and entry level engineers assistant pay at the bottom. Not exactly stellar, unless you're on the Space Station and you don't have anything to spend your money on, then I guess that would be kinda ok. For what they do and the risks they take, it's not enough and I kind of expect that their Private Sector (future)-counterparts will eventually be making much more than that.

[edit on 16-4-2007 by sardion2000]