GoKawiilWally Funk, who in 2021 became the oldest woman to fly into space—60 years after she and 12 other women sought the same opportunity as NASA’s original astronauts—died on Wednesday at 87 years old.
Funk was the last living member of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATs, or as they were later dubbed by the media, the Mercury 13), a group of women pilots who volunteered to go through the same physical and psychological tests as the United States’ first spacemen.
Despite performing as well or better than their male counterparts, though, the Lovelace Woman in Space Program was conducted separately from NASA, and the space agency required that its astronauts be test pilots with jet time. The U.S. military, however, did not accept women into its flight programs.
Still, Funk never gave up the dream, and when she was invited by Blue Origin to join Jeff Bezos on the company’s first human suborbital spaceflight, she boarded the New Shepard capsule on July 20, 2021, and logged a 10-minute flight at the age of 82.
“The Grapevine community joins family, friends and admirers around the world in mourning the passing of aviation pioneer Wally Funk, 87, who passed away peacefully last night at home, surrounded by those she loved,” read a release from her Texas hometown. “The City of Grapevine proudly recognizes Wally Funk, whose extraordinary career has inspired generations by breaking barriers in aviation and space exploration.”
Funk’s NS-16 flight earned her the Federal Aviation Administration’s 13th pair of Commercial Space Astronaut Wings. She was the 26th person in history to fly beyond 50 miles (80 km) altitude and the 585th person to enter space, as recorded in the Registry of Space Travelers by the Association of Space Explorers.
“I felt great! I felt like I was just laying down and I was going into space,” said Funk at a post-flight press conference. “I have been waiting a long time to finally get up there … I want to go again, fast.”