Wally Funk, aviation pioneer who was the oldest woman to travel into space, dies at 87
Source: AP
Updated 5:06 PM CDT, July 9, 2026
GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) — Wally Funk, an aviation pioneer who was the oldest woman to launch into space, has died. She was 87.
Funk died Wednesday at her apartment in an assisted living facility in the Dallas and Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, Texas, Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O’Dell said Thursday. O’Dell, who described herself as Funk’s caregiver, said she was by Funk’s side. Funk had fallen a couple of times recently and had an infection in her leg.
“It took its toll,” O’Dell said in a phone interview.
Funk was one of 13 female pilots who went through the same tests as NASA’s all-male astronaut corps in the early 1960s but never made it into space with that agency. In 2021, she got her chance aboard Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/wally-funk-died-oldest-woman-space-0b7c90f0a0ed7234990b786ec2827d74
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