Wally Funk, Who Set an Age Record for Space Travel, Dies at 87

As a young woman in the 1960s, she wasn’t allowed to become a NASA astronaut. She finally realized her long-held dream of flying in space as an octogenarian.

By Richard Goldstein

Wally Funk, trailblazing aviator who waited 60 years to go to space, dies at 87

A veteran pilot and air safety investigator, she dreamed of space for six decades before Jeff Bezos invited her to join him on a Blue Origin rocket.

By Harrison Smith

Wally Funk, aviation pioneer and oldest woman to go into space, dies at 87

Trailblazing pilot was denied opportunity to become Nasa astronaut but made history on Blue Origin flight in 2021 Wally Funk, a trailblazing aviation pioneer who was denied the opportunity to become a Nasa astronaut and half a century later became the oldest woman to travel into space, has died aged 87. Funk died peacefully on Wednesday evening at her apartment in an assisted living facility in Grapevine, Texas, city councilwoman and close friend Duff O’Dell said on Thursday. O’Dell, who desc...

By Lucy Campbell

Wally Funk death: Oldest woman to travel into space dies at 87

Funk was one of 13 female pilots who went through the same tests as NASA’s all-male astronaut corps in the early 1960s but never made it into space

By Ap Correspondent

Mercury 13 icon Wally Funk, who waited 60 years to reach space with Jeff Bezos, dies at 87

Wally Funk, aviation pioneer and Mercury 13 member, dies at 87. Here's how she broke barriers for women in aviation and finally reached space in 2021.

Pioneering aviator and astronaut trainee Wally Funk dead at 87