And what youve done matters. There was nothing I couldnt do., One day, Funk picked up a copy of Life magazine. Wally Funk has been a trailblazer for women in aviation and spaceflight since 1960. Awards and honors [ edit] In 1964, Funk became the youngest woman in the history of Stephens College to receive the Alumna Achievement Award, honored in recognition for her work in aviation. According to Funk, while she was studying at Stephens College, her scores were not brilliant, and she was rather interested in flying. Together with Gene Nora Jessen, Funk is one of the last two surviving members of the Mercury 13 group. Wally was so inspired by Cobbs achievements that she wrote letters to Cobb and Dr. William Randolph Lovelace; Dr. William was the one who devised the trials. Funk became a professional aviator at the age of 20. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Born in New Mexico in 1939, Wally Funk says she has had a life-long love of aviation, taking her first flying lesson aged nine. In 1983, Wally watched as Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. [14][17], In 1995, Lt. Col. Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot a Space Shuttle into space; Funk was too old to qualify to become a Space Shuttle pilot by the time Collins became one. [4], Funk was also an accomplished outdoorswoman, spending time riding her bike or her horse, skiing, hunting, and fishing. Wally wanted to prove that women could become astronauts in an era before NASA accepted female trainees. When she began flying at the age of 16, she knew it would be a lifelong passion. In the 1960s, Wally Funk was alsolisted in Whos Who in Young Women in America and Whos Who in Aviation.. But the launch this week, decades after she was denied the opportunity, also raises questions about whom space is for. In 2022, Funk was awarded the R.A."Bob" Hoover trophy by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Live updates: Blue Origin's first astronaut launch updates. New York, Wally Funk, 82, will be the oldest person ever to travel to space on Tuesday, in Jeff Bezos' rocket. Also in 2022, The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum awarded its Michael Collins Trophy to Funk for Lifetime Achievement. When Wally turned nine, she had her first flying lesson, when a pilot helped her steer a plane, and while praising Wallys skills, he told her parents that shed done a great job. In 1975, Wally Funk was named Honorary Colonel by the Governor of Louisiana. Wally Funk first time experienced airplanes at the age of just one when she was taken to an airport near their residence in New Mexico by her parents, where she closely watched a Douglas DC-3, an early airliner. Funk will be fulfilling a lifelong dream today by joining the Blue Origin flight crew. And then we get into weightlessness, and were floating.. Wally Funk is one of the Mercury 13, a group of women who trained to be astronauts in the early 1960s. Wally Funk has spent her life among the clouds. According to Mr. Bezos, he chose the date to celebrate the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. [4] At age 14, she became an expert marksman, receiving the Distinguished Rifleman's Award. In 1961, pilot Wally Funk donned a one-piece bathing suit and entered a pitch black isolation tank. Wally Funk has appeared on various television and radio programs, giving interviews and interacting with professionals. Those tests were developed for NASA by a team led by William Randolph Lovelace and were designed to identify any weaknesses that might identify hidden health issues before flight. Future space tourists led by Wally Funk (R), who have paid their deposits on the $200,000.00 fare, celebrate before the Virgin Galactic VSS Enterprise spacecraft makes it's first public landing during the Spaceport America runway dedication ceremony near Las Cruces, New Mexico on October 22, 2010. Nelson recalled the conversation when she called to congratulate her friend in an interview with Space.com. He wanted to put women through the same tests to see if they would be good candidates for space. Wally Funk, one of the First Lady Astronauts, in the cockpit of an AT-6 training plane in 1961. (Collins invited Funk and others who underwent Lovelace's tests to watch the launch. The researchers behind the test assumed no one could withstand an isolation tank for more than six hours. More of her fascinating facts are discussed in this article. Her score was the third best in the Mercury 13 program. Through these letters, Wally expressed her desire to take these tests and go into space. Funk, age 82, is one of a dozen women who have come to be known as the Mercury 13 in pointed contrast to NASA's original astronauts, the Mercury 7. Wallys work was recognized by Sacramentos Educational Board; they appreciated her efforts for giving high school students a head start and interest in aviation. In 1973, when Wally was promoted as a specialist to FAA SWAP (Systems Worthiness Analysis Program), she became the first woman in the United States to hold this position. Later, she traveled to Nevada, Arizona, and California, where she inspected flight schools and air taxi operations. The aviation pioneer was once denied a chance to become an astronaut because of her gender. And then she said, Im going up for all of us. She said. After graduation, Funk became the only female aviation instructor at a U.S. military base. In her early 40s, Wally applied to the training program four times. Meghan is a senior writer at Space.com and has more than five years' experience as a science journalist based in New York City. And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. Whether you want to learn the history of a city, or you simply need a recommendation for your next meal, Discover Walks Team offers an ever-growing travel encyclopaedia. Meet Wally Funk, the woman who's living that truth as we speak. She received the "Outstanding Female Pilot" trophy, the "Flying Aggie Top Pilot" and the "Alfred Alder Memorial Trophy" two years in succession. [18], On July 1, 2021, Blue Origin announced Funk would fly on the first New Shepard flight with passengers, one of four on the flight, including Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen from the Netherlands, who became the youngest ever person in space during the flight of July 20, 2021. In an interview, she revealed that when she entered Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, she hadnt even completed high school. But, flying was my thing. She was the first female flight instructor to be appointed at the U.S.A. military base. Funk echoed a sentiment from the launch of the first female astronaut on the phone call. Genevieve Carlton earned a Ph.D in history from Northwestern University with a focus on early modern Europe and the history of science and medicine before becoming a history professor at the University of Louisville. In 1959, the Mercury 7 was chosen. . Cady Coleman, a NASA astronaut who served aboard the space shuttle and the space station, sees in the invitation a message to Ms. Funk and many more unsung women in space and aviation. [15] To date, as a professional Flight Instructor she has soloed more than 700 students and put through 3,000 Private, Commercial, Multi-engine, Seaplane, Glider, Instrument, CFI, Al, and Air Transport Pilots. "I didn't think that I would ever get to go up. So instead, Wally devoted herself to her career in aviation. While working at the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, DC., Wally Funk attended two schools for field investigators to learn the many elements contributing to airplane accidents and how to investigate them. Funk is listed in "Who's Who in Aviation". In 1961, Wally Funk underwent multiple tests of her physical fitness to prove that women could be astronauts. And then we get up to about ten thousand feet or forty thousand feet and climbing . In an interview, Wally reminisced the moment. "It's so much more akin in my eyes as a sort of old-fashioned astronaut experience, more similar to the one that if NASA had allowed women into the astronaut corps 20 years earlier," Nelson said. [10] Frustrated, Funk left high school early at the age of 16 and entered Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. Her path to space arguably begins with a ski accident in 1956 that crushed two of her vertebrae. Related: As space billionaires take flight, 'the right stuff' for space travel enters a new era. Sixty-two years ago, NASA's Mercury Project . She was joined in space by the 18-year-old Oliver Daemon. [5][19][20] During the successful flight Funk, at age 82, became the oldest person to fly to space, exceeding John Glenn's record at the age of 77 in 1998 (aboard STS-95). She purchased a ticket on Virgin Galactic in 2010 for $200,000, hoping that it would finally get her into space. NASA did not admit women to its astronaut training program until 1978. ", Related:Meet the crew launching on Blue Origin's 1st astronaut flight on July 20. Born Mary Wallace Funk in 1939, Wally began her flying career early. [2]Ninety-Nines jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_5273_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_5273_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], }); When Wally joined Stephens College, she hadnt even graduated from High School. To convince NASA, Wally knew she would need to outlast the Mercury astronauts. While Wally Funk was undergoing her flying training at Oklahoma State University (OSU), she received the Outstanding Female Pilot trophy, the Flying Aggie Top Pilot and the Alfred Alder Memorial Trophy two years in succession. ", Related: How to watch Blue Origin launch Jeff Bezos into space on July 20 Wally has set aside a corner of her home in Grapevine for her collection of space and aviation memorabilia that she has collected over the years. Today, Blue Origin announced Oliver Daemen will be the first paying customer to fly on board New Shepard, marking the beginning of commercial operations for the program, the July 15 statement said. Wally retired as an Air Safety Investigator after 11 years of service in 1985 and was later appointed as an FAA Safety Counselor and went on to become a well-known pilot trainer and aviation safety speaker. The National Rifle Association forwarded her incredible shooting results to President Dwight Eisenhower, who responded in writing. [6] She is also the only one of the thirteen to have traveled to space. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983, although it wasn't until 1995 that NASA made Eileen Collins the first female pilot of the space shuttle. 'Spectacular And Unexpected' 1,500-Year-Old Visigoth Sarcophagus Unearthed In Spain, What Did Cleopatra Look Like? When you hear about these women today, they are often called the Mercury 13, but they called themselves the FLATs: First Lady Astronaut Trainees. Talking about this, she says. At the same time, she represented the southwestern United States as the Top Female Skier in Slalom and Downhill races in US competition. On December 9, 1974, Wally Funk became the first female investigator at the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington, D.C., after she joined them as Air Safety Investigator. Funk during her youthful flying days. The duration of the flight was 10 minutes (from its launch to capsule touchdown in the desert), and it reached a height of 107 km above the earth, while Richard Bransons trip to space and back lasted about 90 minutes from take-off to landing, which reached a height of 86 km. An undated photograph of aviator Wally Funk. She spent most of her childhood skiing, riding her bike or her horse, hunting, and fishing in Taos, New Mexico.
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