- Title: Pioneering female aviator Wally Funk is 'America's new sweetheart'
- Date: 20th July 2021
- Summary: WEST TEXAS, TEXAS, UNITED STATES (JULY 20, 2021) (REUTERS) FUNK STANDING WITH HER CO-PASSENGERS ON THE LAUNCHPAD FUNK WALKING WITH JEFF BEZOS FUNK REACTING AS SHE STEPS OUT OF THE ROCKETSHIP
- Embargoed: 3rd August 2021 21:21
- Keywords: Blue Origin Jeff Bezos Wally Funk
- Location: WEST TEXAS, TEXAS/ IN SPACE/WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- City: WEST TEXAS, TEXAS/ IN SPACE/WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Science,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA003EMNCZ7R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Pioneering female aviator Wally Funk was one of Jeff Bezos's three co-passengers aboard his company Blue Origin's New Shepard launch vehicle on Tuesday (July 20) to take a historic suborbital flight that helped usher in a new era of space tourism.
Funk, 82, was one of the so-called Mercury 13 group of women who trained to become NASA astronauts in the 1960s but was passed over because of her gender.
"I've been waiting a long time," Funk said afterward. "I want to go again - fast."
With Tuesday's flight, Funk has become the world's oldest space travelers, earning her a new generation of admirers from fans on social media all the way to the White House.
"Wally Funk is now on my list of people that I would most like to meet in the country. She is America's new sweetheart," White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters at the daily briefing,
(Production: Pavithra George) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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