Wally Funk, last Mercury 13 member and oldest woman in space, dies at 87
▼ Summary
– Wally Funk, the oldest woman to fly into space, died at 87 on Wednesday.
– She was the last surviving member of the Mercury 13, a group of women who underwent astronaut testing in the 1960s.
– The women were barred from NASA’s program because it required military test pilot experience, which was unavailable to women at the time.
– Funk flew to space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard on July 20, 2021, at age 82, alongside Jeff Bezos.
– Her flight earned her FAA Commercial Space Astronaut Wings and made her the 585th person to enter space.
Wally Funk, the trailblazing pilot who shattered barriers as the oldest woman to ever fly in space when she joined Blue Origin’s first crewed flight in 2021, has died at the age of 87. She passed away peacefully Wednesday at her home in Grapevine, Texas, surrounded by loved ones.
Funk was the final surviving member of the Mercury 13, a group of 13 highly skilled female pilots who volunteered for the same rigorous physical and psychological testing that NASA’s original male astronauts endured in the early 1960s. Though they performed at least as well as their male counterparts, the Lovelace Woman in Space Program remained separate from the official NASA pipeline. The agency required its astronauts to be military test pilots with jet experience, and at the time, the U. S. military did not admit women into those programs.
Despite that early rejection, Funk never abandoned her dream of reaching space. That persistence paid off spectacularly on July 20, 2021, when she strapped into Blue Origin’s New Shepard capsule alongside company founder Jeff Bezos. At 82 years old, she logged a 10-minute suborbital flight, becoming the oldest woman to cross the boundary of space.
“The Grapevine community joins family, friends and admirers around the world in mourning the passing of aviation pioneer Wally Funk,” read a statement from her Texas hometown. “The City of Grapevine proudly recognizes Wally Funk, whose extraordinary career has inspired generations by breaking barriers in aviation and space exploration.”
Her historic NS-16 flight earned Funk the Federal Aviation Administration’s 13th pair of Commercial Space Astronaut Wings. She became the 26th human to fly beyond 50 miles (80 kilometers) altitude and the 585th person ever recorded in the Registry of Space Travelers by the Association of Space Explorers.
Reflecting on the experience shortly after landing, Funk told reporters, “I felt great! I felt like I was just laying down and I was going into space. I have been waiting a long time to finally get up there… I want to go again, fast.”
(Source: Ars Technica)
