Wally Funk, last Mercury 13 member and oldest woman in space, dies at 87
Wally Funk, who in 2021 became the oldest woman in space, died on Wednesday at 87. She was the last surviving member of the Mercury 13.
Wally Funk, who in 2021 became the oldest woman to fly into space, has died at the age of 87. Funk was the last living member of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATs), a group of women pilots later dubbed the Mercury 13 by the media.
Originally, 13 women pilots volunteered to undergo the same physical and psychological tests as the United States' first spacemen. Despite performing as well or better than their male counterparts, the Lovelace Woman in Space Program was conducted separately from NASA. The space agency required its astronauts to be test pilots with jet flight time. At the time, the U.S. military did not accept women into its flight programs.
Funk eventually flew into space 60 years after she and the other Mercury 13 members had sought the same opportunity. Her spaceflight occurred aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket in 2021.