It could be known as the day Jeff Bezos launched himself to almost space. But honestly, that was a sort of yawn moment for me. Another billionaire launching himself into space. Big deal!
The fact that it has only happened once before and that was just a few days doesn’t seem to matter. If you have the money to launch yourself into space, or close to space, have at it.
But really, I have to give Jeff Bezos a bit of credit for taking a passenger with him. Wally Funk went along with him.
Yes, there were others. Mark Bezos was also there. And Oliver Daemon became the youngest person to go to space.
But Wally Funk was the one who really should be the star of the show. She has been a pioneer of aviation for decades, being one of the Mercury 13, a group of women who trained at the same time as the Mercury astronauts, and in many ways, outperformed them in the early days of the space race. She also established herself as an aviation pioneer in many other ways over the years, but she never got to go to space. Because she was a woman.
Seems rather unfair at this time, but that was the big reason Wally Funk never got to space. She was qualified. Now, at the age of 82, she has become the oldest person to ever go to space. Or get close to space. There are different definitions of where space actually starts. There is no sign at the edge atmosphere saying “now entering space”. So there are differing opinions as to where space actually starts. I would think the definition of space should be wherever Wally has been. She deserves it.
Yes, Jeff Bezos could have put a big dent in world hunger or some other major project to benefit humanity. He didn’t. It’s his money, so if he wants to spend it going to space, he can. At least he accomplished one good thing. He took Wally Funk along with him.
Now there are two reasons to remember July 20. Apollo 11 landed on the moon. And Wally Funk finally got to make the trip she should have made almost sixty years ago.
