Monday, October 11th 2021, 7:19 pm
Oklahoma State University rolled out the orange carpet to welcome a local icon, recently returned from a trip to space.
At the Stillwater Airport Monday morning Wally Funk stepped out of the airplane, threw her arms in the air, and everybody cheered.
“Having her come back here, telling us what she’s all about, she has been here for 10 years, it’s a great experience just to meet her,” said Preston Shoemaker, Flying Aggies president.
The Flying Aggies are a student flying club at OSU. Funk was a member while attending the university, where she graduated in 1960.
Funk’s optimism took her all the way to space, and she brought her stories back to Stillwater.
Millions watched as she rode Blue Origin with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and two others.
Related: Oklahomans Reflect On Historic Space Launch, With Wally Funk On Board
“I sat there, we took off, and it was fantastic. Now, I’ve taken off on a lot of jets, and a lot of almost space stuff, and it felt just the same, but we were going straight up,” said Funk.
She said the flight was “perfect.”
“We get up there, and earth is disappearing, and everyone is so happy,” said Funk.
She said it became dark, and silent — Funk had plans for her three minutes in zero-gravity.
“I knew what I wanted, I got out of my seat, I turned upside down, I saw Oliver’s feet, a little close to my head, I turned back around, and floated,” she said.
Her trip to space was decades in the making, paving the way for others who dream of flight.
Eleven-year-old Vivien Ivey made a sign to greet Funk.
“I want to fly airplanes or helicopters. that just sounds really cool to me,” Ivey said.
Ten-year-old Lilly Cribbs wants to go all the way to the moon.
“I want to be an engineer slash scientist and I want to go to the moon; I want to go into space as well,” said Cribbs.
Funk spent the day at OSU visiting with students before a ticketed speaking event Monday evening.
Augusta McDonnell joined 9 News in April of 2021. A Montana native, Augusta graduated from the University of Montana in Missoula with a degree in Journalism. She also studied middle eastern civilizations, theology and politics for two years at Biola University in La Mirada, California.
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