Image source,Reuters
Going to space is Funk’s lifelong wish
Wally Funk, 82, who has been struggling to become an astronaut all his life but has not yet realized his dream, will enter space with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos later this month.
The 82-year-old Funk has dreamed of becoming an astronaut since she was a child. She had received astronaut training in the 1960s, but she failed to realize her dream.
Now Funk is expected to become the oldest person in space.
Blue Origin, the private space company founded by Bezos, will conduct its first manned space flight later this month.
Bezos invited Funk to go to space with him as a “guest of honor” and shared a video on social media in which he personally notified her of the news.
Image source,Reuters
Bezos once posted on Instagram that space flight is something he wants to do “in his life”.
In addition to Bezos and Funk, Bezos’ younger brother Mark Bezos and an undisclosed passenger were accompanied. The secret passenger previously bought the space flight opportunity for 28 million U.S. dollars (20 million pounds) in an auction bid.
Blue Origin’s first manned space flight will send passengers to a place more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the surface of the earth, allowing them to experience a state of microgravity.
The entire journey is expected to last about 10 minutes, and the capsule will finally return to the surface by parachute.
Bezos once said that space flight is something he wants to do “in his life”. A few days ago, he invited Wally Funk in a post on Istagram.
The post first paid tribute to Funk’s space dream: “No one has waited longer than you.”
He also wrote, “Welcome to the team, we are very happy that you will fly with us as a guest of honor on July 20.”
Flying dream
Funk was born in New Mexico in 1939. She has been fascinated by flying since she was a child. She took flight lessons for the first time when she was 9 years old and became a professional pilot when she was 20 years old.
Funk has 19,600 flying hours, and has also served as a flight instructor. During his career, he has instructed about 3,000 students to learn to fly.
Funk, 82, has set many historical records: she was the first female flight safety investigator of the National Transport Safety Board and the first female of the Federal Aviation Administration. inspector.
In 1961, Funk volunteered to join a female astronaut training program called “Mercury 13” (Mercury 13), and received rigorous physical and mental training and testing, hoping to eventually become an astronaut.
However, the US government, the military, and the Space Agency had reservations about women becoming astronauts at the time. Later, the project was cancelled, and Funk and other women who received training failed to enter space.
Lifelong wish
In an interview with the BBC in 2019, Funk said that she has been obsessed with flying since she was a child. Flying has occupied her life and has become a part of her life. Flying into space is her lifelong wish.
She also said at the time that all the female trainers of “Mercury 13” now only have her dream of going to space, and she firmly believes that she will be able to realize this wish one day.
Image source,Wally Funk via Blue Origin
Bezos said, “No one has waited longer than her.”
In 2010, Funk used to spend $200,000 to buy a space travel ticket for Virgin Galactic founded by Richard Branson, but so far, Virgin Galactic’s space travel has not yet achieve.
In a video shared by Bezos, Funk said excitedly that he finally had the opportunity to fly into space.
“I can’t tell you how incredible it is to be selected by Blue Origin to fly into space.”
Amazon founder Bezos is one of the wealthiest people in the world. He founded Blue Origin in 2000 to try private space travel.
In June 2021, Bezos announced that he would take the first human space trip in July, and he and his brother will embark on this journey together.