Flying airplanes was something that Wally Funk seemingly always wanted to do. She had her first flying lesson when she was nine years old and by 20 had become a professional aviator. In 1961 she volunteered for the “Women in Space” program with the hopes of becoming an astronaut. Wally was one of the 13 women who, despite having passed all of the rigorous testing proving they were physically and mentally qualified for space travel, were denied the chance to become astronauts when the program was canceled. Funk continued to dream of going into space and in July of 2021 achieved her dream by flying onboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.
Video Duration:
5 min 4 sec
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aviation air space national museum smithsonian airplane NASA Rocket Jet Discovery SR-71 Blackbird "Space Shuttle" History Science STEM astronaut
