Oklahoma State University Alumna Makes History With Trip To Space

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos blasted off aboard his Blue Origin rocket at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning in the west Texas desert. Three others were by his side, including an 82-year-old woman who graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1960.

Wally Funk has been waiting for this mission for 60 years. She'll is the oldest person to go into space even though she said she feels 24.

Funk is an OSU alumna, a former Flying Aggie and a veteran aviator who helped pave the way for women in space.

In 1961 she and 12 other women volunteered for the "Women in Space" program, which ultimately proved women were as physically and mentally suited for space travel as men.

The group was named the Mercury 13. All 13 women passed the same grueling physical tests as the men. In fact, the scientists found few differences between the sexes, except the “women didn’t whine as much.”

Funk was the youngest member of Mercury 13 and the top in her class, but the program was canceled before the women got to take their final test and none of them ever got the chance to go to space.

Bezos said now is finally the time and invited Funk to take the flight as his guest of honor.

“I've waited a long time and I've dreamt a long time to get to go up,” said Funk. “I just want to get up there and see the earth.”

“Wally is a role model for all of us with grit and determination and resilience, everything. She's incredible,” Bezos said.

The ride lasted about 10 minutes after launch and separation and everything was automated. The crew went roughly 66 miles above earth and floated in microgravity for a few minutes before parachutes and thruster rockets landed the capsule back in the desert near VanHorn, Texas.

Bezos' brother Mark is also part of the crew, as well as 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, who is from the Netherlands. Daemen won his seat in an auction for millions of dollars. He is the youngest to ever go to space and will also be considered the first "space tourist."