Wally Funk Proves Age Is No Barrier

Photo source: Blue Origin

When 82-year-old Mary Wallace (Wally) Funk soared into space this week with billionaire Jeff Bezos, she not only became the oldest person ever to fly in space. She also became an inspiration for the rest of us Baby Boomers as we wrestle with whether our best days are behind us as we move into our “senior” years. She proved once again that age is no barrier.

By now, many of you know the story of Wally Funk. She was one of 13 women who trained as astronaunts in the 1960s during NASA’s Mercury program. That program eventually was terminated and neither Funk nor any of the other 12 women in the training program got their chance to fly into space. She’s been hoping ever since for her moment, and this week, it finally came true.

Bezos, 57, founder and former CEO of Amazon, chose Funk to accompany him on the inaugural human flight for Blue Origin LLC, the private aerospace company he founded in 2000.  Her wide grin and big wave upon exiting the space craft after its successful return to Earth captured the whole world’s attention. Her enthusiasm over finally getting to go into space, after 60 years of trying, in many respects overshadowed Bezos himself, the second aerospace executive and billionaire to soar into space, however briefly, this month. Richard Branson flew into space earlier this month on his Virgin Galactic spacecraft. At age 71, Branson should also give us other senior adults some reason for hope and optimism about what we’re capable of doing, despite our age. On this week’s Blue Origins flight, Bezos and Funk were accompanied by Bezos’ brother Mark Bezos and by the Netherland’s Oliver Daemen, who at 18 became the younger person ever to fly into space.

Funk’s space flight this week beat the record held by legendary American astronaut John Glenn, who at 77 went back into space for one final journey in 1998 on Space Shuttle flight STS-95. Until this week, Glenn was the oldest person ever to fly in space.

Even before her record-breaking space flight with Blue Origin, Funk had many “firsts” in her long list of aviation accomplishments. She was the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board and the first female Federal Aviation Agency inspector. Funk has logged 19,600 hours as a pilot. 

For the rest of us who are senior adults, Funk’s flight into space confirms that age is no barrier. Our final stage of life can be our best one, the signature mark by which we will be most remembered. Our best accomplishments may be yet to come. Like Funk, all it takes is hard work, dogged determination, and an unflappable spirit of optimism and hope. We have to believe in ourselves and what we’re capable of achieving. 

Our dreams may be more down to earth ones. Maybe we have ambitions to start or grow a business, travel the world, or pursue a skill or hobby we never before had time to do. Others of us may want to focus on philanthropy or give back to our community in other ways. Or perhaps our last accomplishment we want to pour ourselves into is leaving a lasting imprint for good on the lives of our grandchildren, great-grandchildren, or other children in our sphere of influence. 

Age doesn’t have to be a barrier that holds us back. Pursue your dreams. Aim high. Go for it.

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