Wally Funk, member of the “Mercury 13.”

She could have become the first Wally in space, beating out Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra.  Why not?  She was as intensively competitive as any of the astronauts, had logged 3,000 hours of flight time, was an instructor of Army pilots at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, was in better physical condition than most of the astronauts.  And she was younger than ol’ Wally Schirra, just twenty-two when she underwent physical testing at the Lovelace Clinic with what would go down in history as the “Mercury 13,” the group of women who endured the same medical tests at the Original Seven Astronauts.  They equalled or bettered the men, were found fit to be astronauts.  Of course, it was the 1960s and no American woman would fly until Sally Ride in 1983.

Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk, born February 1, 1939, died on July 8, 2026, the last surviving member of the “Mercury 13.”  She was one of those people who are born to fly and one of those determined people who never gives up.  When NASA began accepting women into the astronaut corps in the 1970s, she applied three times, rejected for not having a qualifying academic degree.

She finally gained a brief taste of space aboard a commercial Blue Origin flight on July 20, 2021.  At age 82, she became the oldest person to fly in space — besting John Glenn who flew on the Shuttle at age 77.  Later that year, William Shatner flew at age 90.  Then his mark was surpassed that same year by Ed Dwight, also 90 but a couple months older than Shatner.  Dwight, a black astronaut-candidate in the early 1960s, had been denied flight just like the Mercury 13. 

Funk’s suborbital hop that lasted 10 min. 19 sec., allowing her to see the blackness of outer space.  When it was over, she said he was ready to do it again.

She’s up there now, in orbit, with a full flight plan, chasing down Wally Schirra.