World News Headlines July 2, 2021 Under One Ceiling 0 82-year-old aviator Wally Funk will fly to space with Jeff Bezos 0 0000 0 0 more 82-year-old aviator Wally Funk will fly to space with Jeff Bezos July 2, 2021 Under One Ceiling now playing Transferring money from UAE abroad: what are my cheapest options July 2, 2021 Under One Ceiling WIN With Nespresso This Mother’s Day July 2, 2021 Under One Ceiling NBA Playoffs 2022: A Casual Fan's Guide to the Postseason July 2, 2021 Under One Ceiling Best New Climbing Gear of 2022 July 2, 2021 Under One Ceiling A Local Weekend Travel Guide to Austin, Texas July 2, 2021 Under One Ceiling First Drive: 2022 Range Rover Ups the Luxury SUV Experience July 2, 2021 Under One Ceiling Most Stylish Rain Jackets, Parkas, and Trench Coats for Men July 2, 2021 Under One Ceiling EU eyes Russian oil import ban as Moscow strikes western Ukraine July 2, 2021 Under One Ceiling World-class Clark Int’l Airport opens new 110,000 square-meter passenger terminal July 2, 2021 Under One Ceiling PCG: Bodies of 5 children who drowned in Taal Lake found July 2, 2021 Under One Ceiling 82-year-old aviator Wally Funk will fly to space with Jeff Bezos Aviator Wally Funk will be joining Jeff Bezos and his brother aboard the first crewed spaceflight of Bezos’s private space company, Blue Origin, on July 20, the billionaire announced with a video on Instagram Thursday. The 11-minute trip will see the passengers launching about 60 miles straight up into suborbital space before returning to Earth. Funk, 82, is an experienced pilot who was part of the Mercury 13, a group of women who passed rigorous astronaut testing, including physical examinations; having their ear drums frozen to see how they handled vertigo; sensory deprivation; and exercise/respiratory tests in the 1960s. Testing was privately funded and not held through NASA. Despite passing the tests and testimonies to Congress and NASA authorities, the women were not allowed into the United States’ official astronaut program. The decision ultimately came down to the fact that NASA required astronauts to be graduates of military jet test pilot programs, and women were not allowed in Air Force training programs at the time. “No one has waited longer,” Bezos said in his Instagram post introducing Funk as part of the crew. View this post on Instagram In the video, Funk is visibly excited to head up into space as a tourist, and her joy is contagious. After NASA opened up its astronaut program to women in 1976, Funk applied three times but was denied because she did not have an engineering degree and lacked experience as a test pilot. A Netflix-produced documentary, Mercury 13, details several of the women’s sides of the testing experience, including Funk’s, along with NASA’s early refusal to allow women to join the program. Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Bezos, announced that its first crewed flight will include Bezos himself and his brother Mark in June. Another passenger whose name has not yet been revealed paid $28 million at auction for their ticket, with the proceeds going to the Blue Origin-owned charity Club for the Future, which aims to inspire children to pursue STEM education and careers. The flight will take place on Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft, which has successfully completed multiple uncrewed flights, including an astronaut rehearsal in which a crew simulated pre-launch and post-landing procedures. Blue Origin livestreamed the launch, with take-off beginning at around 1:53:40 in the video below. From launch to landing, the entire trip takes just over 10 minutes, including a couple of minutes where passengers get to experience zero gravity in space. As it stands, the Bezos brothers, Funk, and the mystery bidder will be the only four passengers in Blue Origins’ first crewed flight. Related Related posts: Saudi Arabia: Unemployment falls to lowest in five years US jobless claims unexpectedly rise to 419,000, most since March SpaceX has launched the world’s first all-civilian spaceflight tags: RSS Feed World News 0000 0 0 previous Pinterest bans all weight-loss ads next Robinhood says its future is tied to Dogecoin. Seriously.
