Wally Funk, last of Mercury 13 and oldest woman in space, passes away at 87

Wally Funk was a true aviation legend, a woman who never gave up. She was the last of the "Mercury 13," an incredible group of women trained as astronauts in the 1960s. Their space dreams were grounded by prejudice, but she never stopped looking at the stars.

Back in the 60s, NASA wouldn't let women fly into space. However, a private program tested the best female aviators, the "Women in Space Program," later dubbed "Mercury 13" by the media. Wally Funk passed all physical and mental tests, often outperforming NASA's male candidates. Her determination was absolutely wild.

After decades of waiting, her moment arrived thanks to Jeff Bezos and his space company. Wally Funk flew into space with Blue Origin on July 20, 2021, at 82 years old. This made her the oldest woman ever to travel beyond Earth's atmosphere.

It was a very short trip, just a taste of space, but for her, it meant an eternity. "I have been waiting a long time to finally get up there," she once said. Her story is a reminder: dreams don't have expiration dates, even if they sometimes take a while to launch.