Blue Origin will pilot female aviator Wally Funk, one of the Mercury 13s, on its first crewed launch.

Aviator Wally Funk wanted to be an astronaut in the early days of space travel. Sixty years later, on July 20, she will finally go into space with Blue Origin.

Funk was one of 13 female pilots, later named Mercury 13, who passed all the exams required to join NASA’s astronaut corps in 1961 and lobbied the federal government to send women into space. NASA and Congress objected, and women were not allowed to become US astronauts for over a decade; Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly into space in 1983.

But, if all goes according to plan, Funk will be out of gravity for four minutes in just three weeks. “I love every second,” Funk said of his flight in a video released by Blue Origin. “I can not wait.”

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Aviator Wally Funk in a video released to announce his participation in Blue Origin's first manned flight on July 20, 2021.

Aviator Wally Funk in a video released to announce his participation in Blue Origin’s first manned flight on July 20, 2021. (Image credit: Blue Origin)

In 1961 Funk was already a highly skilled pilot and she never lost her love for flying. “I fly forever and have 19,600 flight hours,” Funk said in the video, also referring to her experience teaching more than 3,000 people to fly. “Everything that the FAA [the Federal Aviation Administration] I have, I have a license. “

In the video, she also recalls the frustration she experienced when NASA sustained its initial impetus to exclude women from the astronaut corps, despite the qualifications of 13 female First Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATs), and especially Funk’s outstanding performance.

“They told me I did better and finished the job faster than any of the guys,” Funk said. “I didn’t think I would ever go upstairs.”

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The surviving members of a group of women, unofficially dubbed Mercury 13, attended the launch of Eileen Collins' shuttle in 1995, when she became the first female shuttle pilot. Wally Funk is second from the left.

The surviving members of a group of women, unofficially dubbed Mercury 13, attended the launch of Eileen Collins’ shuttle in 1995, when she became the first female shuttle pilot. Wally Funk is second from the left. (Image courtesy of NASA)

Even after six decades, Funk will not be able to reach orbit, although the 82-year-old man will become the oldest person to have been in space. Blue Origin’s New Shepard is a suborbital capsule designed for short 11-minute flights that cross the boundary of space and during which passengers experience about four minutes of zero gravity.

(The capsule is named, of course, after NASA astronaut Alan Shepard, who became the first American to go into space in May 1961, although he did not reach orbit until 1971, when he also walked on the moon in a spacecraft. Apollo 14 mission .)

Undated photograph of aviator Wally Funk.

Undated photograph of aviator Wally Funk. (Image credit: Blue Origin)

Funk is flying at the invitation of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, who will also be a passenger on the flight, along with his brother Mark and an as-yet-unnamed buyer of the $ 28 million seat sold at the June auction.

“Nobody was waiting anymore,” Bezos wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday (July 1), announcing the addition of his team. “It’s time. Welcome to the team, Wally. We are very glad that you will fly with us on July 20 as our guest of honor. “

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@ or follow her on Twitter @meghanbartels. follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.