Wally Funk, aviation pioneer and oldest woman in space, dies at 87
11 reported
Wally Funk, a trailblazing aviator who became the oldest woman to fly into space at age 82, has died at 87, according to an obituary published by The Guardian. Funk earned her pilot’s license as a teenager and became the U.S. military’s first female flight instructor at 20. She later served as the FAA’s first female flight inspector in 1971 and the first woman instructor for the NTSB in 1974. Despite being part of the Mercury 13 program, which subjected women to the same astronaut training as the male Mercury astronauts, Funk was repeatedly denied a NASA spaceflight because the agency would only accept male U.S. Air Force pilots. In 2021, she flew on Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft with Jeff Bezos and his brother, becoming the oldest person in space at the time. The Guardian reports that Funk’s memoir, “Higher, Faster, Longer,” was published in 2020, and a young person’s book based on it was released in 2025.
What’s reported
Wally Funk died at age 87, according to The Guardian.
She earned her pilot’s license as a teenager and at 20 became the U.S. military’s first female flight instructor.
In 1971, she became the FAA’s first female flight inspector, and in 1974, the first woman instructor for the NTSB.
Funk was part of the Mercury 13 program, undergoing the same training as male Mercury astronauts, and tested top of the group.
She requested four times to be picked for space flight but was rejected because NASA would only accept male USAF pilots.
In 2021, at age 82, she flew on Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft with Jeff Bezos and his brother, becoming the oldest person in space at the time.
William Shatner later broke her age record at 90, and Ed Dwight broke it again; Funk remains the oldest woman in space.
Funk was born Mary Wallace Funk in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and grew up in Taos.
She earned a bachelor of science degree from Oklahoma State University and competed for the Flying Aggies aviation team.
She trained more than 800 pilots at her flight school in Taos and flew in competitions including the Powder Puff Derby.
Funk was elected to the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame in 1995 and joined the Wall of Honor at the National Air and Space Museum in 2017.
Key figures
Wally Funk (Mary Wallace Funk), aviator and astronaut
Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin
William Shatner, actor who broke Funk’s age record
Ed Dwight, former pilot who broke Shatner’s age record
Jerrie Cobb, pilot tested for spaceflight in 1960
John Glenn, Mercury astronaut and former senator
Sally Ride, first American woman in space (1983)
Eileen Collins, first pilot/commander of space shuttle Columbia (1999)
Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space (1963)
Losier Funk, father
Virginia Funk (née Shy), mother
Loretta Hall, co-writer of Funk’s memoir
Sources: The Guardian
