Mary Wallace Funk (born February 1, 1939) is an American aviator, commercial astronaut, and Goodwill Ambassador. 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.
Funk became the oldest person to go to space on July 20, 2021 at age 82, flying on Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft during its suborbital flight, breaking a record held by John Glenn for 23 years. Her record would stand until later that year when William Shatner’s flight took place on October 13; Shatner was age 90 at the time. Funk continues to hold the record for the oldest woman to travel to space.
The flight lasted around 11 minutes from launch to capsule landing. Astronauts experienced three to four minutes of zero-gravity and travelled above the Karman Line, which is considered to be the boundary of space.
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.
Together with Gene Nora Jessen, Funk is one of the last two surviving members of the Mercury 13 group. She is also the only one of the thirteen to have traveled to space.
According to wearetechwomen.com; en.wikipedia.org. Source of photos: internet
