Jeff Bezos names the fourth person for the first New Shepard flight: Wally Funk
Jeff Bezos has upped the ante in the battle of the billionaire bros by handing a seat in the first crewed New Shepard flight to Virgin Galactic customer and member of the Mercury 13, Wally Funk.
Funk will be joining the brothers Bezos and the individual that spanked $28m on a seat in the New Shepard capsule on the 20 July flight.
The Mercury 13 were a group of American women who successfully underwent the same screening tests as their male counterparts, the Mercury 7. Unlike the male astronauts, the 13 never flew in space and it would take until 1983 and Sally Ride's flight on STS-7 before an American woman reached orbit.
Funk, of course, will not be troubling orbit via the New Shepard (named for the first American man in space, Alan Shepard.) The capsule will be performing a straightforward sub-orbital lob like that first crewed Mercury mission, although the interior of the spacecraft is considerably more spacious than Shepard's Mercury capsule.
https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/01/wally_funk_is_going_to_space/
Blue Origin: 82-year-old woman to travel to space with Jeff Bezos
https://www.dw.com/en/blue-origin-82-year-old-woman-to-travel-to-space-with-jeff-bezos/a-58128106
