Bezos Selects Woman in Her 80s as 'Honorary Passenger' for Space Travel

'Because She Was a Woman,' 80-Year-Old American Wally Funk Who Could Not Become an Astronaut
Participates as an 'Honorary Passenger' in Blue Origin Spaceflight on the 20th

▲Willy Funk [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] An 80-year-old American woman who passed NASA's astronaut test in first place but was not allowed to become an astronaut because she was a woman has been selected as an 'honorary passenger' to travel to space with Jeff Bezos.

According to the Associated Press on the 1st (local time), Blue Origin, a private space exploration company led by Bezos, announced that Wally Funk (82) will accompany the space trip scheduled for the 20th of this month as an 'honorary passenger.'

Funk is scheduled to take Blue Origin's space tourism rocket 'New Shepard,' which will launch from West Texas on the 20th, on an 11-minute space trip to the 'Karman Line' at an altitude of 100 km above the Earth’s atmosphere, considered the boundary of space.

It is as if she is fulfilling her long-held dream of spaceflight after more than 60 years.

Funk will accompany Bezos, his younger brother Mark Bezos, and three other people including an anonymous bidder who won the space trip ticket at auction for $28 million (about 31.26 billion KRW).

Funk said it was "fantastic" to finally have the chance to go to space. In a video posted on Instagram, she wrote, "I will love every moment of the trip" and "I can't wait."

Funk was one of the 13 'Mercury Women' who passed NASA's rigorous astronaut tests in the early 1960s under the Mercury program, the first manned satellite launch plan in the U.S. However, she never went to space. She was not admitted to NASA's astronaut corps because she was a woman. At that time, all NASA astronauts were male military test pilots.

Funk recalled hearing that she performed better and completed tasks faster than any man. But no one selected her as an astronaut, and she said, "I never thought I would get to go (to space)."

Living in Texas, Funk served as the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and was also the first female aviation safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

▲Jeff Bezos (left) and Willie Fung (right) [Image source=Yonhap News]

However, Funk, who wanted to go to space so badly, paid $200,000 (about 227 million KRW) several years ago to reserve a seat on another space exploration company Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft. She is still on the passenger list.

Bezos wrote on Instagram, "No one has waited longer than Funk," and said, "The time has come. Welcome to the crew, Funk."

Funk is expected to be recorded as the oldest person to travel to space. The previous oldest space traveler was astronaut John Glenn, who passed away in 2016. Glenn set the record at age 77 in 1998 when he boarded the space shuttle Discovery.

Glenn was also the first American to orbit the Earth three times aboard the first manned satellite 'Friendship 7' in February 1962. However, after this flight, Glenn scoffed at the idea of women going to space, but Wally, a woman, will take his title as the oldest space traveler.

The AP described this as a "cosmic twist."

This space trip is expected to open the door to the 'era of paid space travel for the general public.' Blue Origin has not yet disclosed the price of space travel tickets or when it will start accepting general passengers.

The July 20 launch of New Shepard to space also marks the 52nd anniversary of Apollo 11's moon landing.

In a video released by Blue Origin on that day, after Bezos explained the space travel process to Funk and asked what she would say first upon landing on Earth, Funk said she would say, "'This is the best thing that ever happened to me,'" and hugged Bezos tightly.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.