An 82-year-old NASA trainee who was denied the status of a U.S. astronaut despite successful completion of her program will fly with Jeff Bezos as part of Blue Origin’s first human flight crew, the company announced Thursday.
Wally Funk will join Blue Origin founder Bezos, his brother Mike Bezos, and a yet unannounced highest bidder of an auction — who shelled out over $28 million for the opportunity — on a flight scheduled for July 20, according to Blue Origin.
Welcome aboard, Wally. Here’s the moment Jeff Bezos asked Wally Funk to join our first human flight on July 20 as our honored guest. https://t.co/ESBJ7bxErK
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) July 1, 2021
Funk volunteered for NASA’s Mercury 13 program, also known as the “Woman in Space Program” in 1961. She passed all the necessary exams, graduating at the top of her class only to see the program get cancelled, putting an end to her dream of a space flight, CNN reported.
Despite being the youngest woman to complete the program, Funk was told she “had done better and completed the work faster than any of the guys,” she claimed in a video posted Monday by Bezos on Instagram. (RELATED: Amazon To Get New CEO, Jeff Bezos To Transition Into Executive Chair Role)
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“I’ve been flying forever, and I’ve got 19,600 flying hours,” Funk said in the video. “I have taught over 3,000 people to fly private, commercial, instrument, flight engineer, airline transport, lighting — everything that the [Federal Aviation Administration] has, I’ve got the license for.”
“I could overrun you,” she added, laughing.
Funk even outperformed a prominent astronaut John Glenn, spending 10 hours and 35 minutes inside a sensory deprivation tank in one of the tests during her training, according to CNN.
The planned 11-minute flight on the fully autonomous spacecraft New Shepard will allow the crew members to spend four minutes beyond the bounds of gravity, Space.com reported.
“I’ll love every second of it. I can hardly wait,” Flunk said in the video.