Wally Funk, the oldest woman to launch into space, dies aged 87

American aviation pioneer Wally Funk, who was the oldest woman to fly in space, has died at 87 in Texas, her caregiver says.

Ms Funk died Wednesday, local time, at her apartment in an assisted living facility in the Dallas and Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine, Texas, Grapevine City Councilwoman Duff O'Dell said on Thursday.

Ms O'Dell, who described herself as Ms Funk's caregiver, said she was by Ms Funk's side.

Ms Funk had fallen a couple of times recently and had a leg infection.

"It took its toll," Ms O'Dell said in a phone interview.

Ms O'Dell said Ms Funk was the "most eternally optimistic person" she had ever met.

"She was told by many, many, many men, 'No, you can't do this. No, you can't do that,'" Ms O'Dell said.

"And she never got mad about it. She just was more determined."

Ms Funk was one of the so-called Mercury 13 group of women who trained to become NASA astronauts in the 60s but never flew into space after being passed over due to her gender.

At 21 years old, she was the youngest woman to pass the same testing as the Mercury Seven male astronauts in NASA's program that first sent Americans into space between 1961 and 1963.

In 2021, when she was 82 years old and some 60 years after first undergoing training, Ms Funk was one of billionaire Jeff Bezos's three co-passengers aboard his company Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital shuttle launch.

She set the new record as the oldest person to launch into space, beating the late John Glenn, who set a record at age 77 when flying aboard space shuttle Discovery in 1998.

"I've been waiting a long time," she said after the launch.

"The four of us, we had a great time. I want to go again — fast."

Her record was later broken by Star Trek actor William Shatner and Ed Dwight, America's first Black astronaut candidate. They were both 90.

Mr Bezos chose Ms Funk as an "honoured guest" to ride alongside him during the Blue Origin launch.

"Wally Funk never stopped believing that one day she would reach space," NASA administrator Jared Isaacman posted on Thursday on X.

"Her passion for flight, perseverance, and love of exploration will continue to inspire generations of Americans. Godspeed, Wally."

Ms Funk was also the first female flight instructor at a US military base and the first woman to become an air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.

"I've done a lot of astronaut training through the world, Russia, America. And I could always beat the guys on what they were doing because I was always stronger and I've always done everything on my own," Ms Funk said in 2021.

AP