Astronaut Testing News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Honored a trailblazing citizen down main street. last month, wally funk defiedavo space, living out a dream more than six decades in the making. she shared the inside story with her friend and ours, doug dunbar, of the cbs station ktvt in dallas-fort worth. >> "congratulations. i hope you're jumping for joy." >> reporter: the letters and cards being sent to america's newest space hero haven't stopped. >> there are all these letters. they're all written to they're all written to me. no phone number. i can't call back. >> reporter: would you call them back? >> sure, the ones that have, you bet! ...

Us on "new day." >> thank you, john. up next, the western wildfires, so huge even the east coast can see the effects. and wally funk ends her 60-year wait to get into space. we're going to talk to a friend of hers who actually went through astronaut testing just like she did back in the 1906s. you don't want to miss this. ♪ ♪ when technology is easier to use... ♪ barriers don't stand a chance. ♪

First female inspector for the faa. and in the 1960s, she was the youngest member of the mercury 13. the first group of women put through rigorous astronaut testing. tests that i had, i can do it - and i can do it just as well as anybody else. >> she says she passed all those exams better than faster than any of the men who later went on to become nasa's first astronauts. but the mercury 13 never made it into space. the program was canceled. >> i never had any bad feelings. i knew i was going. sometime i will go. >> and now, after nearly 20,000 hours of flight time and 82 years on this planet,...

>> the first female inspector for the faa, and in the 1960s, she was the youngest member of the mercury 13. the first group of women put through rigorous astronaut testing. >> i feel like after all those tests i had, i can do it and i can do it just as well as anybodies. >> she says she passed all those examines better than faster than any of the men who later went on to become nasa's first astronauts. but the mercury 13 never made it into space. the program was canceled. >> i never had any bad feelings. i knew i was going. sometime i will go. >> and now, after nearly 20,000 hours of flight ti...