At 82 years old, Wally Funk became the oldest person to fly to space on Tuesday.
Funk was one of four crew members to take a trip to space on Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard vehicle . The flight marked Blue Origin’s first human flight to space, making way for civilians to travel to space.
Bezos said Funk was at the top of her class as part of the “Mercury 13 Woman in Space Program” in 1961. “Despite completing their training, the program was canceled, and none of the thirteen flew,” Bezos said.
New Shepard launch Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket sits on a spaceport launch pad near Van Horn, Texas, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The rocket that is scheduled to launch later this morning will carry passengers Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin, his brother Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (Tony Gutierrez/AP)
New Shepard launch Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket launches carrying passengers Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin, brother Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk, from its spaceport near Van Horn, Texas, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (Tony Gutierrez/AP)
New Shepard launch Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket launches carrying passengers Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin, brother Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk, from its spaceport near Van Horn, Texas, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (Tony Gutierrez/AP)
New Shepard launch Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket launches carrying passengers Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin, brother Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk, from its spaceport near Van Horn, Texas, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (Tony Gutierrez/AP)
New Shepard launch Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket launches carrying passengers Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin, his brother Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk, from its spaceport near Van Horn, Texas, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (Tony Gutierrez/AP)
New Shepard launch The media staging area is shown with a monitor that shows Wally Funk being interviewed near the Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket launch pad, at rear, near Van Horn, Texas, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The rocket is scheduled to launch later this morning will carry passengers Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin, brother Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (Tony Gutierrez/AP)
New Shepard launch Broadcast crews prepare for the launch of the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket at the spaceport near Van Horn, Texas, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. The rocket is scheduled to launch later this morning will carry passengers Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin, brother Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (Tony Gutierrez/AP)
New Shepard launch Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule parachutes safely down to the launch area with passengers Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin, brother Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk, near Van Horn, Texas, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (Tony Gutierrez/AP)
New Shepard launch Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule parachutes safely down to the launch area with passengers Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin, brother Mark Bezos, Oliver Daemen and Wally Funk, near Van Horn, Texas, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (Tony Gutierrez/AP)
Funk said in the video she has 19,600 flying hours under her belt, has taught more than 3,000 people to fly and said that “everything the FAA has, I’ve got the license for.”
She was also the first female FAA inspector and the first female NTSB air safety investigator, according to a Blue Origin news release.
