Wally Funk, Barrier-Breaking Pilot and Oldest Woman in Space, Dies at 87

Her death was confirmed by the city of Grapevine, though no cause was provided. Funk’s journey to the stars was defined by a six-decade delay; in 1961, she was the youngest of the "Mercury 13," a group of women who passed the same rigorous physical and psychological testing as the original male Mercury astronauts. Despite outperforming many of her male peers, she was barred from NASA’s corps strictly because of her gender. It was not until July 2021, at age 82, that she finally launched aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepard rocket, briefly holding the record as the oldest person to reach space.

Before her historic flight, Funk built a formidable career, logging over 19,000 flight hours and training more than 3,000 pilots. She served as the first female flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and later became the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. While others like William Shatner and Ed Dwight eventually surpassed her age record, she remains the oldest woman to have traveled to space. As the last surviving member of the Mercury 13, Funk’s career stands as a testament to the persistence required to shatter aviation’s glass ceiling.