Denied astronaut wings decades ago beacuse of her gender, 82-year-old Wally Funk will finally have to opportunity to fly into space later this month. She will join Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, his brother and the secret winner of a charity auction to travel into space aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket.
Funk will be part of the crew as an "honoured guest" as the Blue Origin rocket lifts off from West Texas for a 10-minute hop in the space.
Funk was one of the so-called Mercury 13 women who went through astronaut training in the 1960s. They never made it to space, or even NASA’s astronaut corps, because they were female. Back then, all NASA astronauts used to be military test pilots and male.
At 82, Funk will become the oldest person to launch into space. She’ll beat the late John Glenn, who set a record at age 77 when flying aboard space shuttle Discovery in 1998.
“No one has waited longer,” Bezos said via Instagram. “It’s time. Welcome to the crew, Wally. We’re excited to have you fly with us on July 20th as our honored guest.”
Funk, a pilot and former flight instructor, was the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.
