Wally Funk | |
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![]() Funk in 2012 | |
Born | Las Vegas, New Mexico, U.S. | February 1, 1939
Alma mater | Stephens College Oklahoma State University |
Known for | First female FAA and NTSB inspector; one of the Mercury 13; oldest woman to fly in space |
Space career | |
Commercial Astronaut![]() | |
Flight time | 10m 18s |
Selection | Blue Origin |
Missions | NS-16 |
Mary Wallace Funk (born February 1, 1939) is an American aviator, commercial astronaut,[1][2] and Goodwill Ambassador. She was the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, the first female civilian flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and the first female Federal Aviation Agency inspector, as well as one of the Mercury 13.[3][4]
Funk became the oldest person to go to space on July 20, 2021, at age 82, flying on Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft during its suborbital flight, breaking a record held by John Glenn for 23 years.[5] Her record would stand until later that year when William Shatner's flight took place on October 13; Shatner was age 90 at the time. Funk continues to hold the record for the oldest woman to travel to space.
Funk is the last surviving member of the Mercury 13 group.[6] She is also the only one of the thirteen to have traveled to space.
The US government is making it official, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and William Shatner have earned the title of astronaut after their flights to the edge of space. The Federal Aviation Administration will also award Commercial Space Astronaut Wings to 12 other people who have flown at least 50 miles above Earth on a FAA licensed commercial spacecraft, including the crew of SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission. The FAA will award wings to eight people who flew on Blue Origin's New Shepherd spacecraft, three who flew on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, and to the four members of the SpaceX crew who spent three days in space in September.
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