Aviation pioneer Wally Funk dies at 87
RIP Wally Funk. In her youth, she was an accomplished pilot and part of a group of women tested for space flight but never allowed to become an astronaut. Six decades later, she finally made it into space at age 82. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/s...
yn2usn.bsky.social17Oh come on NYT! Sally Ride was “a passenger” ???!!!!! “The first American woman in space was Sally Ride, a passenger on a shuttle flight in 1983.”
solecito25.bsky.social12Fabulous woman. There was a superb documentary about all these women test pilots. They had such spirit and talent, passed all the tests the men did and then the president told them no. Travesty.
singlecatlady23.bsky.social7Thank you, Wally Funk! Signed: A Girl Computer Programmer Since 1982
MCMLXI4Sorry to see her go Just read a great piece by Jerry Pournelle (𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙩, Destinies, Vol. 1 no. 3) where he talked about Danielle Goldwater, who should have been an astrononaut but missed the cut due to gender & wearing glasses One day we'll be back, man & woman alike
okay7.bsky.social4I see there appear to be several books written about her interesting life. It occurs to me that today would be a good day to read it and maybe, if someone has daughters or granddaughters, pass to book on to them afterward.
KUNA4that's what happens when you're told you're not good enough for 60 years. still flew higher than most of us will ever get to.
Patriarchy has forcibly held back the human race for centuries with its obsession w treating women as inferior to men, it makes me wonder what we could have had if that cancer hadn’t taken hold.
telescyote 🔭3To be clear she sounds very cool and probably deserved better from NASA. But just because they sometimes add good people to the flights (prob for this exact reason of making it seem shitty to question their legitimacy) doesn't make the Blue Origin passengers real astronauts. Sorry
RIP Wally Funk (1939-2026), one of the Mercury 13 (which inspired For All Mankind) Also: "In July 2021. Funk became the oldest woman to travel to space at the age of 82. During the 11-minute flight, Funk experienced a few moments of weightlessness and marveled at the darkness of space."
Shoshana 🏳️⚧️37I love For All Mankind because it shows us how their stories should have gone. So many women, queers, and people of color have dreamt, lived, and died while being denied access to their dreams because of who they are.
Tim L3The only tattoo I have of a real person is a silhouette of Wally looking out the window on her New Shepard flight. It was an honor to meet her and an even bigger honor to help fulfill her dream of spaceflight.
ouinne2Kristen Schaal starring in her biopic when
