She will be the oldest person to go among the stars. In the 1960s, she was denied an astronaut job because of her gender. Now her dream becomes reality
Jeff Bezos is ready to leave for Space on his New Shepard rocket with a crew of three other people. With the Amazon founder will go his brother Mark, an unknown who bought the ticket at auction for $28 million and 82-year-old aviatrix Wally Funk. The latter will be the oldest person to fly in the cosmos. A well-known pilot, in the 1960s she was denied the job of astronaut because of her gender, namely because she was a woman. Thanks to Bezos, finally, the 80 years old Wally will be able to realize her desire to go in Space becoming also a symbol of how you should never stop believing in your dreams.
Who is the aviatrix Wally Funk
The departure from the Blue Origin is scheduled for July 20 and that day Funk will beat the record of the late John Glenn who, at the age of 77 years in 1998, was on board the space shuttle Discovery becoming the oldest person to go into Space. Wally herself seems incredulous to have made it, in a video she revealed that she didn’t think “I would ever be able to get on” the New Shepard.
Funk was one of the pilots of the “Mercury 13” who, in 1961, volunteered to be part of a program to get women to qualify to become Nasa astronauts. She graduated at age 21 after passing rigorous physical and mental tests created by then-US space agency chief William Randolph Lovelace. “I was told I had completed the work before any of the other guys,” Wally recounted.
The program had been canceled, however, due to the federal government’s decision that women should not be allowed to use military facilities needed for space training. Now, however, thanks to the Amazon founder, the famous and resourceful pilot will be able to go into Space. Jeff Bezos himself called Wally Funk “an honored guest” of the New Shepard mission.
The 82-year-old aviatrix, a Texas resident, became the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration in 1971 and the first female aviation safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board in 1974. She said she has taught more than 3,000 people to fly. To those who pointed out that she will finally become an astronaut, Wally Funk replied, “I’m having a hard time waiting.”
If Bezos breaks the record for taking the oldest person to the stars, Richard Branson surpasses the Amazon founder in being the first “tourist” in Space. The founder of Virgin, in fact, will leave on July 11 with his Virgin Galactic Unity rocket, anticipating the mission of Blue Origin’s New Shepard.
Stefania Bernardini