[3], As a child, Funk was captivated by planes. Funk told The Guardian she never married, saying she is married to airplanes. She said in the interview that she carried no resentment over being grounded from spaceflight. A biography titled Wally Funks Race for Space by Wally Funks friend Sue Nelson was published by the Chicago Review Press in March 2019. In the 1960s, Wally Funk was alsolisted in Whos Who in Young Women in America and Whos Who in Aviation.. She had been fascinated by planes since she was a child, and got her pilot's license as a teenager. Seven of the pioneering Mercury 13, including Wally Funk (second left). Wally says. Wally Funk as a child in Taos, New Mexico, My mother passed the flying gene down to me. At Stephens College, she was required to fly 100 miles as part of her flying training. Earlier forms of this gatekeeping prevented so many women from accomplished careers in spaceflight and space science. Today, Funk will have a lifelong dream fulfilled as a member of the Blue Origin flight crew. According to Wally Funk, while she was undergoing her flying training at Stephens College, she would often pick up her parents while flying around the countryside as she was required to do 100 miles of flying. She climbed into the cockpit for her first flying lesson at nine. '"[4][8] She became interested in mechanics and built model airplanes and ships. From left, seven of the FLATs in 1995: Gene Nora Jessen, Ms. Funk, Jerrie Cobb, Jerri Truhill, Sarah Rutley, Myrtle Cagle and Bernice Steadman. According to Funk, since childhood, she was an adventure enthusiast who loved outdoor activities. She said. Wally Funk was chosen by. Funk during her youthful flying days. In an interview, Wally revealed that she barged into the local airfield office and asked, 21 years old Wally Funk as the first female flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1960. Over the years, she applied four times to be an astronaut and was turned down because she had never gotten an engineering degree. Funks bachelors degree didnt meet the requirements. When Wally turned seven, she started making planes from balsa wood. In the 2010s, she bought a ticket on Virgin Galactics SpaceShipTwo. ', READ NEXT: Oliver Daeman: Meet the 18-Year-Old Who Is Going to Space, Wally Funk: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. [7]Ninety-Nines jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_5273_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_5273_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], }); In late November 1973, after returning to the FAA Academy, Wally took courses involving air-taxi, charter, and aviation rental businesses. But they were never included in NASA's vision for spaceflight and never became astronauts until now. The family had a collection of artwork from artists at the Taos art colony, as the artists would trade artwork to pay off their debt at the store. A success story 50+ years in the making. Numerous books and movies have acknowledged Wally Funks role in the history of the space program like Martha Ackmanns 2003 history The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight and the Netflix documentary Mercury 13. Wally Funk has never given up on her dream of spaceflight, said Margaret Weitekamp, curator of the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museums space history department. She said. Wally Funk Is Defying Gravity and 60 Years of Exclusion From Space. [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. In 1971, when Wally finished the FAA General Aviation Operations Inspector Academy course, she became the first woman in the United States to do so. It is hard not to look at the billionaire space-race and wonder if Mr. Bezos invited her as a way to one-up Richard Branson. Funk was in the tank, without hallucinating, for 10 hours and 35 minutes, a record. She was the first woman in the United States to be promoted to the FAA SWAP (Systems Worthiness Analysis Program) as a specialist in 1973. Across the board, the women who passed that initial round of testing did as well or better than their male counterparts, and of that group, Ms. Funk excelled. She purchased a ticket on Virgin Galactic in 2010 for $200,000, hoping that it would finally get her into space. "It's poignant, she has waited a lifetime for this," she said. She said, I cant tell people that are watching how fabulous I feel to be picked by Blue Origin to go on this trip.. NASA did not admit women to its astronaut training program until 1978. By contrast, when the astronaut John Glenn was selected for the Mercury program, he also did not have an engineering degree. On July 1, 2021, Jeff Bezos announced through an Instagram post that Wally Funk would be part of a four-person crew set to be launched into space by Blue Origin on July 20, 2021. And shortly before 9:15 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, Wally Funk departed from the Earth in West Texas. She had her first flight lesson at age nine, became a licensed pilot at 17 and has logged more than 19,000 flying hours. The first round of exams included x-rays, intrusive physical exams, and a test where Wally had to swallow three feet of rubber tubes. Ms. Jessen had to stop flying in 2017 because of macular degeneration, and Ms. Funk fought for 60 years to finally get her trip to space. [3], Concurrently, Funk participated in many air races. For what reason, I have no idea.. Various magazines have featured Wally Funk, including Life, Town and Country, and Ms Magazine. The 22-year old had to show that she could withstand the remoteness of space. On August 16, 1975, Wally participated in the Palms to Pines All Women Air Race from Santa Monica, California to Independence, Oregon in which she stood 2nd. Funk received the Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) flight inspector rating in 1971. becoming the first woman to complete the FAAs General Aviation Operations Inspector Academy course, which includes Pilot Certification and Flight Testing procedures, as well as handling accidents and violations. The Blue Origin crew meeting up at the companys rocket barn in Texas: Wally Funk: Honey, I couldnt be better Im gonna be in that window! When the New Shepard reaches an altitude of 100 kilometers, it is the first of its kind. Wally believes that it was her parents encouragement that made her feel she could do anything she wanted. Reportedly, the program was scrapped because its private funding was pulled. A pilot gave Wally Funk her first flying lesson at age nine, letting her help steer the plane and telling her parents she did a great job. There was nothing I couldnt do., Wally Funks childhood photo while she was growing up in Taos, New Mexico. [3], In July 2020 Funk published a memoir, Higher Faster Longer My Life in Aviation and My Quest for Space Flight with author Loretta Hall. Wally talked about this in an interview. Although all 13 participants of Mercury 13 proved that they could endure extreme physical conditions, the program was shelved on the pretext that sending women into space was against the natural order, after its private funding was pulled and several prominent NASA figures lobbied against sending women astronauts into space. [13][14] She placed eighth in the Powder Puff Derby's 25th Annual Race, sixth in the Pacific Air Race, and eighth in the Palms to Pines Air Race. ! pic.twitter.com/vhGaMqqjnZ, Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) July 17, 2021. A TV show called What Will the Women Be Doing In The Year 2000? interviewed Wally in November 1973. Wally Funk pictured at a ceremony in Las Cruces, New Mexico for the first landing of the Virgin Galactic VSS Enterprise, October 22, 2010. When she started flying at 16, she knew it would be a lifelong passion. Wally Funk Is Defying Gravity and 60 Years of Exclusion From Space, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/19/science/wally-funk-jeff-bezos.html. Together with Gene Nora Jessen, Funk is one of the last two surviving members of the Mercury 13 group. At the launch, an emotional Wally cried out. Wally Funk was the only female one at a US military base when, aged 21, she joined Fort Sill, Oklahoma as a Civilian Flight Instructor. To register herself for these tests, she wrote letters to Cobb and Dr. William Randolph Lovelace, the man who devised the trials. Funk was a skilled outdoorswoman who enjoyed riding her bike or horse, skiing, hunting, and fishing. [4] At nine, she had her first flying lesson. In 1975, Wally Funk was named Honorary Colonel by the Governor of Louisiana. Wally Funk, a trailblazing female pilot denied the job of astronaut in the 1960s over her gender, will finally get the chance to fulfill her dreams of going into space. Ms. Funk flew at every opportunity, including sneaking out of a formal dance to go night flying. In 1995, when Eileen Collins became the first female pilot in space, Funk was at the launch pad crying out, Go Eileen. You get her out there and start her flying., I was the last Flying Susie to receive my license., I was required to do 100 miles of flying so I would fly around the countryside and even pick up my parents., Wally Funk in 1960, flying an helicopter as a college fresh out, As a Flying Aggie, I could do all the maneuvers as well as the boys, if not better., Wally Funk and two other members of the Flying Aggies with their silverware in 1959, Seven of the pioneering Mercury 13, including Wally Funk (second left), 21 years old Wally Funk as the first female flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1960, Wally Funk featured in the June 28, 1963, Life Magazine story on Mercury 13 women, Mercury 13, a documentary on space program featuring Wally Funk, premiered on Netflix in 2018, I cant tell people that are watching how fabulous I feel to be picked by Blue Origin to go on this trip., Wally Funk (2nd from right) posing in front of Blue Origin shuttle, Follow us on our social media channels to stay connected. By the age of 21, Wally Funk had become a professional aviator and started working as a Civilian Flight Instructor of noncommissioned and commissioned officers of the United States Army after she joined Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1960. Seven members of the Mercury 13 watching a 1995 shuttle launch. But, flying was my thing. Wally Funk has spent her life in pursuit of a dream. I did everything that people didnt expect a girl to do, Wally said. On July 20, Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos, and Wally Funk boarded the first human flight. Her path to space arguably begins with a ski accident in 1956 that crushed two of her vertebrae. Despite being younger than the recruiting age range of 2540, Funk was invited to take part. The National Rifle Association forwarded her incredible shooting results to President Dwight Eisenhower, who responded in writing. By NASA/Joel Kowsky. The article entitled A Lady Proves Shes Fit for Space Flight, which was published on August 29, 1960, described a series of terrifying endurance tests that aviator Geraldyn Jerrie Cobb had just successfully completed; these tests were designed to test the aspiring astronauts. [4], Funk was also an accomplished outdoorswoman, spending time riding her bike or her horse, skiing, hunting, and fishing. On June 23, 1975, Wally Funk attended a luncheon at the White House in Washington, D.C.; she joined the luncheon at the request of Mrs. Gerald Ford. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). In 2017, Wally Funk's name was inscribed on the Smithsonian. So instead, Wally devoted herself to her career in aviation. She became the first female safety inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and continued to rack up flight hours, topping out at more than 19,000 hours. When Eileen Collins became the first female astronaut in 1995, Funk was on the launch pad cheering, Go Eileen. Lovelace wanted to bring those 13 in for still more tests, this time at government facilities, but couldn't get approval. She was the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, the first female civilian flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and the first female Federal Aviation Agency inspector, as well as one of the Mercury 13.[3][4]. Tomorrow this legendary pilot realizes her dreams and flies in space. I just wish it had been longerand could do a lot more rolls and twists and so forth. In an interview, Wally talked about this. [12] Funk investigated 450 accidents, ranging from a probable mob hit to a fatal crash at a mortuary. Here's what to expect on its long journey to Jupiter, SpaceX's 1st Starship and Super Heavy launch: How it will work, Europe preps dark matter-hunting Euclid spacecraft for trip to Florida launch site (photos), SpaceX Dragon cargo ship departs space station and returns to Earth, SpaceX will try to launch 1st Starship orbital flight on April 17, No asteroid impacts needed: Newborn Earth made its own water, study suggests. After graduation, Funk became the only female aviation instructor at a U.S. military base. "I just got a lump in my throat and tears welled up." (brother Dave's full video here: https://t.co/oqFZQDV7gD) pic.twitter.com/XKJxgTcDPG, Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) July 19, 2021. According to CNBC, Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic has crossed the 80-kilometer mark but has yet to cross the 100-kilometer mark. "Her aim was to not only to just do it to the best of her ability, every test, but to try to do better than whoever had gone before her," Sue Nelson, a science journalist who later traveled with Funk to research her book, "Wally Funks Race for Space" (Chicago Review Press, 2019), told Space.com. Wally Funk, the oldest woman to go to space, was celebrated as a hometown and American hero in Grapevine on Aug. 7. Soon after writing letters to Cobb and Dr. William Randolph Lovelace, Wally was called to Albuquerque to participate in the Woman in Space Program. Wally you matter. 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. In an interview, she talked about her mother who also desired to fly as a young girl, and how her maternal grandfather doubted her mothers dreams. Just as women were the secretaries and telephone operators on Earth, so too they would be in space, this line of thinking went, according to Weitekamp. Wally Funk is a pioneer American aviator who, at the age of 21, was the youngest member of the Mercury 13 program, a privately funded project in the 1960s that meant to see how women held up to the pressures of spaceflight. Wally said. She will join the youngest person in space, Oliver Daemon, 18. [12], After the Mercury 13 program was canceled, Funk became a Goodwill Ambassador. Meet Wally Funk, The Trailblazing Female Pilot Who Fought For Over 60 Years To Go To Space. I go right to the wheel and I try to turn the nut, Wally said. Spaceflight and space science astronauts until now graduation, Funk participated in many air races, mark Bezos, Bezos... Our corporate site ( opens in New tab ) Jessen, Funk was invited take! 13 watching a 1995 shuttle launch her path to space, was as... 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