Jeff Bezos announced to the world that he will be flying to space aboard his company’s Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. At that time, they still had one seat left for another crew, and the hunt for him or her had begun.
Bezos’ introduced his co-passenger at the New Shepard rocket
Now it was announced that Jeff Bezos finally found the person who will take the last vacant seat in their flight to space on July 20. Fox Business reported that the Amazon CEO picked an 82-year-old female to join him in the flight.
The woman has been identified to be Mary Wallace Funk or Wally for short. She has been described as an aerospace pioneer and she is now confirmed to join in the first manned flight to space.
The billionaire introduced Wally to the public through a video he posted on Instagram. In the clip, Bezos and Wally talked about the flight and a bit about her background in the aerospace line.
"I have been flying forever and I've got 19,600 flying hours," Wally excitedly said in the clip. "I have taught over 3,000 people to fly private, commercial, instrument, flight engineer, airline transport, lighting and everything that the Federal Aviation Administration has, I've got the license for."
The impressive background and achievement of Wally
BBC News reported that the 82-year-old was born in New Mexico, and she has an extraordinary love of aviation. She used to train to become an astronaut, and that was 60 years ago, but the mission did not push through, and the women who took part in the training never got to fly to space.
She made some history in the aviation sphere as she served as the first female air safety investigator for the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB). She was also the first woman to become an inspector for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Now, she is set to make another history when she flies with Jeff Bezos on a journey to space as she will be the oldest person to do so.
Meanwhile, the others who will join Jeff Bezos in the flight are his younger brother, Mark Bezos, and an auction winner who paid $28 million for a seat on the New Shepard. He beat 7,000 bidders to be on the trip to space.


Dow Hits 50,000 as U.S. Stocks Stage Strong Rebound Amid AI Volatility
South Korea Assures U.S. on Trade Deal Commitments Amid Tariff Concerns
Silver Prices Plunge in Asian Trade as Dollar Strength Triggers Fresh Precious Metals Sell-Off
FDA Targets Hims & Hers Over $49 Weight-Loss Pill, Raising Legal and Safety Concerns
Bank of Japan Signals Readiness for Near-Term Rate Hike as Inflation Nears Target
Amazon Stock Rebounds After Earnings as $200B Capex Plan Sparks AI Spending Debate
Prudential Financial Reports Higher Q4 Profit on Strong Underwriting and Investment Gains
Vietnam’s Trade Surplus With US Jumps as Exports Surge and China Imports Hit Record
Dollar Steadies Ahead of ECB and BoE Decisions as Markets Turn Risk-Off
Trump Endorses Japan’s Sanae Takaichi Ahead of Crucial Election Amid Market and China Tensions
Instagram Outage Disrupts Thousands of U.S. Users
Trump Signs Executive Order Threatening 25% Tariffs on Countries Trading With Iran
Trump Lifts 25% Tariff on Indian Goods in Strategic U.S.–India Trade and Energy Deal
Once Upon a Farm Raises Nearly $198 Million in IPO, Valued at Over $724 Million
TSMC Eyes 3nm Chip Production in Japan with $17 Billion Kumamoto Investment
OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering
SpaceX Pushes for Early Stock Index Inclusion Ahead of Potential Record-Breaking IPO 



