Wally Funk, the oldest woman to travel to space, has died at the age of 87. She passed away on Wednesday at her apartment in an assisted living facility in Grapevine, Texas, according to Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O'Dell, who described herself as Funk's caregiver. Funk had recently suffered falls and a leg infection, which O'Dell said "took its toll."
Funk was a member of the Mercury 13, a group of women who underwent the same rigorous testing as NASA's Mercury 7 astronauts in the early 1960s but were ultimately denied the opportunity to become astronauts due to their gender. Despite this setback, Funk went on to have a distinguished career in aviation, becoming the first female flight instructor at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration, and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. She trained over 3,000 pilots and logged more than 30,000 hours of flight time.
In 2021, at the age of 82, Funk finally achieved her dream of spaceflight when she joined billionaire Jeff Bezos on Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital shuttle. She set the record for the oldest person to launch into space, a record later broken by William Shatner and Ed Dwight. Funk described the experience as "the greatest feeling" and expressed her desire to go again.
Funk's legacy extends beyond her aviation achievements. She was celebrated for her optimism and determination in the face of adversity. O'Dell described her as "the most eternally optimistic person" she had ever met, noting that Funk never let the numerous rejections she faced deter her from pursuing her goals.
The city of Grapevine honored Funk's contributions, stating that her "unwavering determination proves that dreams have no expiration date." Her life and career continue to inspire young people, particularly girls, to pursue careers in science, aviation, and space exploration.