Wally Funk, Trailblazing Female Astronaut, Dies at 87 After Historic Spaceflight at 82
Wally Funk, a pioneering aviator and the oldest woman to fly to space, passed away at age 87 in her apartment at a senior living facility in Grapevine, Texas, near Dallas-Fort Worth. The news was shared on Thursday by Grapevine City Council member Duff O'Dell, who was with Funk during her final moments. O'Dell noted that Funk had suffered several falls recently and battled a leg infection, which took a toll on her health.
In the early 1960s, Funk was one of 13 female pilots who underwent the same astronaut testing as NASA's male astronaut candidates, though she was never selected to fly with NASA. Decades later, in 2021, at age 82, Funk finally realized her dream by flying aboard a Blue Origin spacecraft, founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos. This flight made her the oldest person at the time to travel to space, a record later surpassed by actor William Shatner and astronaut candidate Ed Dwight, both aged 90.
Bezos invited Funk as a guest of honor on the brief suborbital flight launched from West Texas, which reached about 100 kilometers altitude, allowing passengers to experience weightlessness and see Earth's curvature through large windows. Blue Origin praised Funk as a "pioneer in every sense of the word," expressing humility to have been part of her journey.
Council member O'Dell described Funk as "the most optimistic person without limits," recalling how Funk faced repeated rejection from men who told her she couldn't achieve her goals, yet she never grew angry, only more determined. Funk was the first female Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector and the first aviation safety investigator at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). She was the youngest of the Mercury 13 women astronaut trainees at age 21.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman honored Funk on social media, highlighting her lifelong passion for flight and exploration as an inspiration to generations of Americans. Funk's historic spaceflight and enduring legacy mark her as a trailblazer in aviation and space exploration.
