Grapevine to Hold Parade for Blue Origin Passenger Wally Funk – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

The town of Grapevine is holding a parade in honor of Wally Funk, a Grapevine pilot who became the oldest person to go into space on July 20th.

She was one of four passengers on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket when it launched into space.

The city said the parade will take place along the historic main street of Grapevine on August 7th at 12 noon.

The parade ends at Peace Plaza on Grapevine Main Station at 815 South Main Street, where Funk will speak with others at an event.

Funk was personally chosen by Jeff Bezos to accompany him on the flight with Bezos’ brother.

Funk has been flying airplanes for 60 years. Your trip into space by rocket is truly a moment in your life.

She was one of 13 women trained as an astronaut for Project Mercury in the 1960s. The program was privately funded, but the women all went through the same amount and intense training as NASA astronauts did in preparation for space.

But it was a different time. Despite her education, NASA never accepted her or the other Project Mercury members because of their gender.

Now she is the only member of the Mercury 13 to finally go into space.

Funk has also been an active member of a female aviation group called the Ninety-Nines for over 60 years.

Many local students learned to fly through radio. In her life she has taught more than 3,000 students.

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