she shared the inside story with her friend and ours, doug dunbar, of the cbs station ktvt in dallas-fort 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! thank you very much for your card! >> reporter: in selecting funk, amazon founder jeff bezos chose an aviation legend who has taught over 3,000 people to fly, first-ever female inspector for the f.a.a. and the n.t.s.b., and an original member of the "mercury 13," a group of women in the 1960s, who completed the same astronaut testing as the men. >> there's wally waving. she's leading the crew. >> reporter: so it came as no surprise when wally funk lead the charge on launch day. >> i was told, eight stories of stairwell. so i had gone to my doctor, and he had big stairs. i practiced. >> we are at t-minus 15 minutes. >> reporter: but when launch time was put on a brief hold