{"id":5364,"date":"2026-07-09T19:07:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=5364"},"modified":"2026-07-09T19:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:07:26","slug":"aviation-pioneer-wally-funk-who-trained-as-an-early-female-astronaut-dies-at-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=5364","title":{"rendered":"Aviation pioneer Wally Funk, who trained as an early female astronaut, dies at 87"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Wally Funk, a pioneering aviator who volunteered to be an astronaut for NASA\u2019s \u201cWomen in Space Program\u201d in 1961, has died at the age of 87.\n <\/p>

Read more Man accused of shooting two National Guard members hospitalized after refusing to eat in prison<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Funk passed away at her home in Grapevine, Texas, Wednesday evening, according to a statement shared by the city on social media.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWally was a beloved Grapevine resident whose extraordinary accomplishments and generous spirit left an enduring legacy,\u201d the post reads. \u201cThe City of Grapevine proudly recognizes Wally Funk, whose extraordinary career has inspired generations by breaking barriers in aviation and space exploration. Funk continues to serve as a global symbol of determination, perseverance, and excellence.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Born Mary Wallace Funk on February 1, 1939, she dedicated her life to becoming an accomplished pilot who forged a pathway filled with firsts. Attending Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, at the age of 16, Funk joined the women\u2019s flying club and earned her pilot\u2019s license a year later, according to the Lonestar Flight Museum in Houston.\n <\/p>\n

\n Funk was undaunted when airlines turned her down after she earned her Airline Transport Pilot rating. She became the first female flight inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and the first female investigator for the National Transportation and Safety Board.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWally Funk\u2019s unwavering determination proves that dreams have no expiration date,\u201d said Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O\u2019Dell, a close friend of Funk, in a statement. \u201cHer courage, resilience, and groundbreaking achievements continue to inspire young people \u2014 especially girls \u2014 to pursue careers in science, aviation, and space exploration. Grapevine is honored to call Wally Funk one of our own.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n She had extensive experience as a pilot, logging over 19,600 flying hours and teaching more than 3,000 people how to fly private and commercial aircraft.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cEverything the FAA has, I\u2019ve got the license for. And I can outrun you,\u201d she once joked in a promotional video for space technology company Blue Origin in 2021..\n <\/p>\n

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\"Funk<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
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\nFunk sits in the cockpit of an AT-6 training plane at Hawthorne airport October 01, 1961.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Don Cravens\/The Chronicle Collection\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n But Funk aspired to go to space.\n <\/p>\n

\n Funk was also a member of NASA\u2019s \u201cMercury 13\u201d program in February 1961, a privately funded effort intended to begin training women to fly in the agency\u2019s earliest space programs. The 13 women in the program undertook all of the training and testing that the seven men selected by NASA for the Mercury spaceflight program undertook.\n <\/p>\n

\n Funk became the youngest woman to graduate from the program, and she was told she \u201chad done better and completed the work faster than any of the guys,\u201d she said in the Blue Origin video.\n <\/p>\n

\n Funk even spent 10 hours and 35 minutes inside a sensory deprivation tank in one Mercury 13 test, outperforming famed astronaut John Glenn.\n <\/p>\n

\n But despite her best efforts and impressive results, Funk and the other women were ultimately denied the opportunity to become astronauts.\n <\/p>

Read more Inside the insurgent rise and rapid downfall of Graham Platner\u2019s campaign<\/a><\/p>\n

\n \u201cI got ahold of NASA four times, and said \u2018I want to become an astronaut,\u2019 but nobody would take me,\u201d Funk said. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I would ever get to go up. Nothing has ever gotten in my way. They say, \u2018Wally, you\u2019re a girl, you can\u2019t do that.\u2019 I said, \u2018Guess what, doesn\u2019t matter what you are, you can still do it if you want to do it,\u2019 and I like to do things that nobody\u2019s ever done before.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n NASA didn\u2019t select the first class of female astronauts until January 1978, and of that class, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in June 1983.\n <\/p>\n

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\"The<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
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\nThe Mercury 13 stand near the Space Shuttle Discovery at Cape Canaveral in 1995, including (from left) Gene Nora Jessen, Wally Funk, Jerrie Cobb, Jerri Truhill, Sarah Rutley, Myrtle Cagle and Bernice Steadman.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
NASA\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n Funk\u2019s dream of going to space was finally realized a half century later when Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos selected her as an \u201chonored guest\u201d to accompany him and his brother Mark on a New Shepard suborbital flight in July 2021. Funk became the oldest woman to travel to space at the age of 82.\n <\/p>\n

\n During the 11-minute flight, Funk experienced a few moments of weightlessness and marveled at the darkness of space.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI\u2019ve been waiting a long time to finally get it up there, and I\u2019ve done a lot of astronaut training through the world \u2014 Russia, America \u2014 and I could always beat the guys on what they were doing because I was always stronger and I\u2019ve always done everything on my own,\u201d Funk said during a post-flight news conference. \u201cI want to go again, fast. I loved every minute of it. I just wish it had been longer,\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Bezos said they took the goggles Amelia Earhart flew across the Atlantic with them to space.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI like to think that if Amelia were here, she\u2019d be very, very proud of Wally,\u201d Bezos said.\n <\/p>\n

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\"Blue<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n
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\nWally Funk and Jeff Bezos are seen after their suborbital flight on July 20, 2021 in Van Horn, Texas.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Joe Raedle\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n Blue Origin paid tribute to Funk in a post on X Thursday, calling her \u201ca pioneer in every sense of the word.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIn her 20s, she was the first female civilian flight instructor at a U.S. military base,\u201d according to the post. \u201cShe became the youngest of the Mercury 13, outperforming nearly every test put in front of her, and ultimately, the only one of the thirteen to have ever reached space. On NS-16, sixty years later, Wally made history as the oldest astronaut at the time and remains the oldest woman to ever fly to space. It was a moment six decades in the making. We were humbled to be part of her journey. Her story will continue to inspire generations of future explorers. Fly Wally, Fly.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Sign up for CNN\u2019s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.\n<\/p>

Read more What we know (and don\u2019t know) about how Maine Democrats will replace Graham Platner<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aviation pioneer Wally Funk, who finally went to space half a century after training to be a female astronaut, has died.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-space"],"yoast_head":"\nAviation pioneer Wally Funk, who trained as an early female astronaut, dies at 87 - Relocation Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=5364\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aviation pioneer Wally Funk, who trained as an early female astronaut, dies at 87 - 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