Wally Funk, an aviator who became a record-setting spaceflight participant late in life, dies at 87. Born in 1939, Funk grew up during a period when women were barred from becoming NASA astronauts, and she pursued aviation despite those restrictions. She spent decades as a pilot and later worked in roles related to aviation safety and investigation. Over the course of roughly six decades, she pursued her ambition to fly in space.
Funk’s long wait ended when Blue Origin invited her to join a spaceflight with founder Jeff Bezos. At age 82, she flew on a New Shepard mission, becoming the oldest person to reach space at the time, according to reporting from multiple outlets. Her flight fulfilled a long-held personal goal that began when she was young, and it came after years of public interest in her story as a symbol of persistence and changing access to spaceflight. Following her spaceflight, her legacy continues to be highlighted in accounts of her aviation career and late-career achievement.
