GRAPEVINE, Texas: Wally Funk, the aviation pioneer who became the oldest woman to travel into space, has died aged 87, city councilwoman and friend Duff O’Dell said.
O’Dell said Funk died on Wednesday at her apartment in an assisted living facility in Grapevine, Texas.
Funk launched into space in 2021 aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. She travelled with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos and Oliver Daemen.
She was 82 at the time. The flight made her the oldest person to travel into space then. Actor William Shatner and Ed Dwight later broke that age record. Both flew at age 90.
In the 1960s, Funk joined 12 other female pilots, later known as the Mercury 13. The women took tests similar to NASA’s all-male astronaut corps, but NASA did not admit them as astronauts.
Bezos invited Funk as an honoured guest on the Blue Origin flight. In a tribute to X, he said Funk waited 60 years to reach space and “no one ever earned it more.”
Bezos said Funk logged 19,600 flight hours and trained thousands of students. He said she “never stopped flying.”
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The City of Grapevine said Funk became the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration.
It also said she became the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. Blue Origin called Funk a “pioneer in every sense of the word” in a post on X.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Funk’s passion for flight, perseverance and love of exploration would continue to inspire generations of Americans.
