Wally Funk, aviation pioneer who was the oldest woman to travel into space, dies at 87
The aviation pioneer was the youngest Mercury 13 trainee and later set a record as the oldest woman to fly to space.
- Aviation pioneer Wally Funk died Wednesday at age 87, the city of Grapevine, Texas, announced Thursday. She passed peacefully surrounded by loved ones.
- In 1961, Funk participated in the Mercury 13 program, undergoing rigorous astronaut testing alongside male candidates. Despite ranking third among the 13 qualifying women, she was barred from NASA flights due to her gender.
- Funk achieved her lifelong dream in 2021, traveling aboard the Blue Origin New Shepard with Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos. At age 82, she became the oldest woman to reach space, earning a Guinness World Record.
- Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O'Dell honored Funk's legacy, stating "Wally Funk's unwavering determination proves that dreams have no expiration date." O'Dell noted her achievements continue inspiring young people to pursue aviation and space careers.
- Her career spanned more than 19,600 flight hours and trained over 3,000 pilots. Funk will be posthumously inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame at the New Mexico Museum of Space History.
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129 Articles
Wally Funk, the American female astronaut who set a record as the oldest woman to ever travel in space at the age of 82, has died in Texas, USA. The space community is mourning her passing.
Pioneering aviator and astronaut trainee Wally Funk dead at 87
By Steve Gorman July 9 (Reuters) - Wally Funk, the trailblazing aviator who became the oldest person to fly to space some 60 years after first undergoing astronaut training with 12 other American women at the dawn of the Space Age, has died in Texas at...
(Los Angeles=Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Kyung-yoon = Wally Funk, the oldest astronaut to have traveled to space at the age of 82, passed away on the 8th (local time). He was 87 years old...
Aviation Pioneer Wally Funk, Oldest Woman To Travel Into Space, Dies At 87
Funk was one of 13 female pilots who went through the same tests as NASA’s all-male astronaut corps in the early 1960s. But she only made it to space in 2021 aboard Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket.
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