# Wally Funk, oldest women to go into space, dies at 87

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wally-funk-oldest-women-to-go-into-space-dies-at-87/1031551>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 9, 2026, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wally-funk-oldest-women-to-go-into-space-dies-at-87/1031551 "2026-07-09T22:58:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2026, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wally-funk-oldest-women-to-go-into-space-dies-at-87/1031551/1 "2026-07-09T22:58:40Z")

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She was one of the Mercury 13, a group of women who underwent privately funded astronaut training in the early 1960s. Several of them, including her, were re-evaluated in the late 1990s after John Glenn rode on the space shuttle in his 70s, but none of them met modern fitness or health guidelines. I tried to read her autobiography, but I gave up quickly because I just didn’t like her. RIP anyway.

> **[Wally Funk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wally_Funk)**
>
> Mary Wallace Funk (February 1, 1939 – July 8, 2026) was an American aviator, commercial astronaut, and goodwill ambassador. She was the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, the first female civilian flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and the first female Federal Aviation Administration inspector, as well as one of the Mercury 13 group. Funk became the oldest person to go to space on July 20, 2021, at age 82, flying on Blue Origin's New Shepar...