Mary Wallace Funk, a famous pilot and the oldest woman to travel to space, has passed away at the age of 87 in Texas.

著名飛行員兼最高齡太空旅人 Mary Wallace Funk 在德州逝世，享年 87 歲。

The city of Grapevine, Texas, announced that Ms. Funk died at her home on Wednesday evening, although the exact cause of death was not revealed. Throughout her career, Funk was known for breaking gender barriers in aviation. She became the first female flight instructor at Fort Sill, the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). These achievements were based on her impressive experience of over 19,000 flight hours and her work training about 3,000 pilots.

德州 Grapevine 市宣布，Funk 女士於週三晚上在家中逝世，儘管確切死因尚未公布。在整個職業生涯中，Funk 以打破航空業的性別壁壘而聞名。她成為了 Fort Sill 首位女性飛行教練、聯邦航空管理局 (FAA) 首位女性檢查員，以及國家運輸安全委員會 (NTSB) 首位女性航空安全調查員。這些成就基於她超過 19,000 個飛行小時的驚人經驗，以及她培訓約 3,000 名飛行員的經歷。

Despite her skills, Funk's dream of going to space was delayed for decades due to gender discrimination. In 1961, she was part of the 'Mercury 13,' a group of thirteen women who passed the same difficult physical and mental tests as NASA's male candidates. Even though she performed better than many men, she was denied entry into the astronaut program. This happened while the Soviet Union was already sending women into space, whereas the United States did not launch its first female astronaut, Sally Ride, until 1983.

儘管擁有專業技能，但由於性別歧視，Funk 前往太空的夢想被推遲了數十年。1961 年，她是「水星 13 號」(Mercury 13) 的成員，這是一個通過了與 NASA 男性候選人相同艱難體能與心理測試的 13 人女性小組。儘管她的表現優於許多男性，但她仍被拒絕進入太空人計劃。當時蘇聯已經在將女性送入太空，而美國直到 1983 年才派遣首位女性太空人 Sally Ride。

Finally, in July 2021, Funk reached space aboard a Blue Origin vehicle. At 82 years old, she became the oldest person to reach space, breaking the record previously held by John Glenn. Although other travelers later broke this record, Funk remains the oldest woman to ever complete a suborbital flight. Furthermore, as the last surviving member of the Mercury 13, she was the only woman from that original group to eventually reach space.

最終，Funk 於 2021 年 7 月搭乘 Blue Origin 的太空載具到達太空。82 歲的她成為了到達太空最高齡的人，打破了先前由 John Glenn 保持的紀錄。雖然隨後有其他旅人打破了這項紀錄，但 Funk 仍是完成亞軌飛行最高齡的女性。此外，作為「水星 13 號」最後一名倖存成員，她是該原始小組中唯一最終到達太空的女性。

Mary Wallace Funk has passed away, leaving behind a powerful legacy as a pioneer for women in aviation and space exploration.

Mary Wallace Funk 逝世，為女性在航空與太空探索領域留下了強而有力的先驅遺產。