Born: 1 February 1939, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Mary Wallace Funk
The following is republished from NASA. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Funk was a member of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATs, also known as the “Mercury 13“). The so-called Mercury 13 was a group of women who trained to become astronauts for America’s first human spaceflight program in the early 1960s. Although FLATs was never an official NASA program, the commitment of these women paved the way for others who followed.
In July 2021 after a lifetime of groundbreaking achievements, an 82-year-old Funk finally traveled to space aboard Blue Origin, becoming the oldest person to travel to space.