82-year-old female pilot to accompany Jeff Bezos to space
Mary Wallace Funk was supposed to go to space 60 years ago, she also passed the necessary tests but the only thing that stopped her from going to space was her gender.
In Short
- Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his brother will be accompanied by an 82-year-old female pilot to space.
- Mary Wallace Funk, the 82-year-old female pilot, will be the oldest person to go to space.
- Bezos will fly to space on the first space flight by his rocket company Blue Origin on July 20
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his brother will be accompanied by an 82-year-old female pilot to space. Mary Wallace Funk, the 82-year-old female pilot, will be the oldest person to go to space. There is an interesting about Funk’s journey to space. She was supposed to go to space 60 years ago, she also passed the necessary tests required but the only thing that hindered her journey to space was her gender. Nonetheless, all’s well that ends well, she will now share the spaceship with Jeff and his brother.
Bezos will fly to space on the first space flight by his rocket company Blue Origin on July 20. Taking to his Instagram, Bezos welcomed Mary Wallace Funk to accompany him to space on his fight New Shepherd. He wrote, “No one has waited longer. In 1961, Wally Funk was at the top of her class as part of the “Mercury 13” Woman in Space Program. Despite completing their training, the program was cancelled, and none of the thirteen flew. It’s time. Welcome to the crew, Wally. We’re excited to have you fly with us on July 20th as our honoured guest.”
Earlier, a Blue Origin, Bezos’s rocket company had auctioned a seat for $28 million. The anonymous bidder who paid an exorbitant amount of $28 million will fly to space on New Shepard’s first human flight on July 20, and will join Blue Origin founder, Jeff Bezos, and his brother, Mark. Over 7,600 people had registered to bid from 159 countries. The company had revealed the bidding amount will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, whose mission is to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and to help invent the future of life in space.
Earlier, Bezos had shared a video on his Instagram announcing his visit to space. He wrote, “Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of travelling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.”
Bezos will formally step down as the CEO and co-founder of Amazon on July 5. He will now take over as the executive chairman of the company in the third quarter of this year. Bezos will be replaced by the head of Amazon’s cloud division Amazon Web Services (AWS) Andy Jassy.