A dream come true at 82. In less than three weeks, Wally Funk to accompany billionaire Jeff Bezos to space. In the 60s, she was part of the group “Mercury 13”. Thirteen female volunteers who had passed the same tests as the male astronauts.
Wally Funk will smash the record for the oldest astronaut, held by the American John Glenn who had flown aboard the space shuttle Discovery, at 77 years old. The purpose of this program was to test astronauts for the first space flights. The United States had also learned that the USSR was considering sending a woman into space and wanted to respond.
At the time, Wally Funk was the youngest to pass the tests. “They told me I did the job better and faster than any of the men, but no one wanted to take me. Sending a woman into space no longer interested NASA, “she said Thursday July 1.
This lack of interest is explained in particular by the departure of the Soviet Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, in 1963. After this episode, the United States lagged behind on parity for twenty years, until 1983. For his part, Wally Funk still became a pilot, accumulated nearly 20,000 flight hours and is therefore the guest of honor aboard the rocket called “New Shepard”.
Another billionaire in space on July 11
The orbital flight will take place on July 20, anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, the first men on the moon in 1969. It will be operated by the company Blue Origin, the space part of the founder of Amazon. Four people will be on board rocket: Jeff Bezos himself, his brother, Wally Funk and the winner of a lottery that raised $ 28 million for charity. They will rise about 100 kilometers and float for a few minutes in zero gravity before landing in a desert in West Texas.
Space has become the playground of billionaires, who are engaged in a commercial and industrial battle. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk were vying for the place of the richest man in the world, now also the one who will lead the biggest conquest of space. A third billionaire joins the battle: Briton Richard Branson. The owner of Virgin Atlantic recently announced that he will be going to space on July 11, just before Jeff Bezos.
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