Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk is not only an aerospace pioneer, but also the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, the first female civilian flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and the first female Federal Aviation Agency inspector. Jeff Bezos announced today that she will be joining him on Blue Origin’s first human flight to the edge of space aboard a New Shepard spacecraft. Read more for a video and additional information.
Wally Funk was also a part of the Mercury 13, a “Women in Space” Program that put her through rigorous physical and mental testing. Volunteers were placed in sensory deprivation tanks in one of the tests, and Funk managed to endure 10 hours and 35 minutes, a record, without hallucinating. She passed her tests with flying colors and was qualified to go into space, scoring even higher than John Glenn did in his testing. Unfortunately, the program was canceled before the women were to undergo their last test.
- Features 3 LEGO builds illustrating the areas of expertise of the 4 featured women of NASA
- Includes 4 minifigures: Nancy Grace Roman, Margaret Hamilton, Sally Ride and Mae Jemison
- Nancy Grace Roman’s build features a posable Hubble Space Telescope with authentic details and a projected image of a planetary nebula
