• Question: Do you get paid? If so, how much do you get paid.. (I guess about £500)

    Asked by 249tch48 to Andrea, Charlie 🚀, Col Op, Kirsty, Vinita on 14 Jun 2016. This question was also asked by Lian.
    • Photo: Kirsty Lindsay

      Kirsty Lindsay answered on 14 Jun 2016:

      Hi,
      I’m a PhD student researcher so I don’t get paid like a job, but I do get a stipend, which is money to help pay my living costs while I do research. I’m very lucky to be supported by my university and ESA because it means I can focus on science all the time.

      Scientists and engineers are very well qualified, so I’m happy to say they we make more than £500 🙂

    • Photo: Andrea Boyd

      Andrea Boyd answered on 14 Jun 2016:

      For participating in this, we’re all volunteers.

      At work if you’re a normal engineer you are paid pretty well, if you’re a mining engineer you’re paid at least 1.5x a normal engineer, if you’re an Oil & Gas engineer you’re paid about 3x as much as a normal engineer and if you’re a space engineer you get paid less than half of a normal engineer. Mining Engineers and Oil and Gas Engineers get paid even more than Astronauts so aim for that if you’re after a highly paid career. My salary in Europe is less than 1/3rd of what it used to be in Australia. Space is a field you do for fun because you like it, not for the money 🙂

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