6/2/2023 0 Comments Wally funkShe was among two dozen female pilots who underwent six days of rigorous physical tests - the same ones administered to the Mercury astronaut candidates - in 19. In the posted video, she said she has 19,600 flying hours and has taught more than 3,000 people to fly. Wally Funk visits the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2019.įunk, who lives in Texas, was the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. Welcome to the crew, Wally.”įounder is stepping down as the company’s CEO on Monday. “No one has waited longer,” Bezos said via Instagram. Glenn pooh-poohed the idea of women flying in space, shortly after he became the first American to orbit the world in 1962. In a cosmic twist, she’ll beat the late John Glenn, who set a record at age 77 when flying aboard space shuttle Discovery in 1998. You can still do it if you want to do it and I like to do things that nobody has ever done.” “They said, ‘Well, you’re a girl, you can’t do that.’ I said, ’Guess what, doesn’t matter what you are. “Nothing has ever gotten in my way,” she added. I can hardly wait,” Funk said in an Instagram video posted by Bezos. "I loved it," she said.The Mercury 13, Gene Nora Jessen, Wally Funk, Jerrie Cobb, Jerri Truhill, Sarah Rutley, Myrtle Cagle and Bernice Steadman, in 1995.įunk said she feels “fabulous” about finally getting the chance to go to space. In her closing remarks after landing, Funk added: "I've been waiting a long time to finally getting up there." Congratulations and Texas' own Wally Funk on their historic first human spaceflight - launched right here in the Lone Star State!" Greg Abbott also tweeted: "Texas breeds innovation. "A success story 50+ years in the making." "This morning Wally Funk, age 82, who once trained to be an astronaut in the 1960s as one of the Mercury 13, became the oldest person ever to fly to space," Billie Jean King, the celebrated former American pro tennis champion, tweeted. "Wally Funk is now on my list of people that I would most like to meet in this country," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday. While some have criticized Bezos and Branson for their private spaceflight aspirations, many people, including elected officials, sports and media professionals, congratulated Wally on fulfilling her lifelong aspiration. Both flights - combined with the competition between the rival billionaires - have captured global attention and garnered interest and enthusiasm for the nascent space tourism industry. ![]() ![]() The historic launch occurred just nine days after British billionaire Richard Branson flew to the edge of space on a rocket-powered vehicle designed by his own space tourism company, Virgin Galactic. With more than 19,500 flying hours under her belt, Funk also likely has more time in the air than the three crewmen who joined her in space combined. Image: Wally FUnk (Blue Origin via AFP - Getty Images) The much-anticipated trip marked a number of milestones, including the first unpiloted suborbital flight with an all-civilian crew, the first crewed launch for Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, and Daemen becoming the youngest person to reach space.įunk, no stranger to breaking records, also made history as the oldest astronaut when she emerged from the spacecraft after landing, with a big grin and arms opened wide, a look of pure elation. The craft then descended under parachutes and landed in the Texas desert for a total flight time of roughly 10 minutes. ![]() After liftoff, the New Shepard rocket accelerated toward space at three times the speed of sound.Īt an altitude of 250,000 feet, the capsule separated, taking Funk, Bezos, his brother, Mark, and Oliver Daemen, 18, of the Netherlands, to the edge of space. ET from a site in the west Texas desert southeast of El Paso. On Tuesday, Funk, 82, joined Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on his historic flight to the edge of space aboard a rocket and capsule developed by his private spaceflight company, Blue Origin. In 1961, the aviation whiz caught a break when, despite being under the required age of 24, she became the youngest of the so-called Mercury 13 women, who underwent testing to demonstrate that women could qualify for NASA's astronaut corps.īut because she was a woman, Funk's dreams of flying into space never came to fruition. military base - all at a time when women were systematically barred from many parts of life.įor Funk, all of it was in service of fulfilling one mission: becoming one of the first female astronauts. She earned top aviation ratings in college, was a professional certified pilot and became the first female civilian flight instructor at a U.S. At the age of 22, Wally Funk already had a résumé of lifetime achievements.
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