Wally Funk, trailblazing aviator and oldest woman in space, dies at 87

Wally Funk, the pioneering aviator who became the oldest woman to travel to space at age 82, has died at 87. Funk passed away peacefully on July 8, 2026, at her home in Grapevine, Texas, surrounded by loved ones, according to city officials and close friend Duff O'Dell Source: AP News; The Guardian. No official cause of death was given, though O'Dell noted Funk had recently experienced a leg infection and several falls Source: CNN.

Pioneer of the skies

Funk logged more than 19,600 flight hours and taught over 3,000 pilots Source: Engadget. She became the first female flight inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board Source: Ars Technica. Despite her qualifications, she was repeatedly denied the chance to become a NASA astronaut.

Mercury 13 and the road to space

In 1961, Funk joined the "Women in Space Program," later called the Mercury 13, undergoing the same rigorous tests as NASA's male astronauts. She was the youngest participant and the only one to pass all tests, even outperforming John Glenn in a sensory deprivation exercise Source: The Guardian. Yet, because of her gender, she was barred from the astronaut corps. NASA did not admit women until 1978 Source: CNA.

Lifelong dream fulfilled

In July 2021, at age 82, Funk flew aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard as Jeff Bezos's honored guest, becoming the oldest person in space at the time. "I felt like I was just laying down and I was going into space," she said after the flight . The record was later broken by William Shatner (90) and Ed Dwight (90), but Funk remains the oldest woman to reach space .