Wally Funk, legendary aviation pioneer, to join Jeff Bezos for trip to space

Wally Funk, an 82-year-old aviation pioneer and one of the 13 female fliers who were tested but ultimately barred from NASA's initially all-male astronaut corps in the 1960s, is finally getting her chance to fly in space, thanks to Jeff Bezos.

Funk has accepted Bezos' invitation to join him, his brother Mark and the yet-to-be named winner of an online auction aboard Bezos' New Shepard spacecraft when it blasts off on its first passenger flight July 20, the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. At 82, Funk will become the oldest person to ever fly in space, eclipsing a record set by John Glenn in 1998 when he flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery at age 77.