i wish it had been longer. >> reporter: wally funk's journey into space was a long time coming.denied the opportunity to pursue her dream of becoming an astronaut because she was a woman. >> i didn't think i would get to go up. >> reporter: but the amazon founder surprising her with the news in a video that she shared on instagram. >> when we open up the hatch and you step outside, what is the first thing you say? >> i say, honey, that was the best thing that happened to me. >> reporter: in 1961, already a professional aviation instructor, funk became the youngest member of the mercury 13, the first group of women to be put through rigorous astronaut training, for a women in space program, designed to see if women were as capable as handling space travel as men. none of the women would ever fly. the program was later canceled. but funk continued blazing trails for women in flight, becoming the first female air safety investigator for the ntsb and the first female inspector for the faa. her love for the skies never waned. over the years, she logged nearly 20,000 miles flying hour

as well as wally funk. what a moment for her. at the age of 82. she will become the oldest astronaut to of ever flown in space. and there she is loading in wally was part of the mercury 13 program back in the 1960s. the program to train women to go to space but ultimately was canceled but now it is her moment. today is an incredible day for her. now we're going to be waiting for mission control to get a go for astronaut boat out to the pad. that's when the rivian will start heading out towards -- they will pass right behind me. i'm going to give them a wave. they then will pass mission control, get some last-minute love from our team there as well as their families and then he'll head down the road to the launchpad and we are go for load, , and there they go, everybody. what a moment. you can probably our team already losing it down you. we're super excited and their are. high-fives from everybody. what an incredible moment. they're coming over here just behind my right shoulder. a moment we've been waiting for here at blue origin come so much hard

it is a moment wally funk — give me a hug! it is a moment wally funk has _ give me a hug!een waiting i give me a hug! it is a moment. wally funk has been waiting 60 years for. in the 1960s, she was one of 13 women who passed nasa's stringent training programme to become astronauts. they asked me, do you want to be an_ they asked me, do you want to be an astronaut? i said yes! be an astronaut? ! said yes! they— be an astronaut? i said yes! they told _ be an astronaut? i said yes! they told me that i had done better— they told me that i had done better and competed done completed the work faster than any the — completed the work faster than any the guys. sol completed the work faster than any the guys. so i got a hold of nasa _ any the guys. so i got a hold of nasa four times, i said i want — of nasa four times, i said i want to— of nasa four times, i said i want to become an astronaut. nobody— want to become an astronaut. nobody would take me!- want to become an astronaut. nobody would take me! none of the women _ nobody would take me! none of the women for _ nobody would t

the launch had bezos, wally funk, bezos brother and oliver damon. the launch andlanding took place in west texas . >> we rt -4 minutes 20 seconds to go on to launch. what an incredible moment. let's check out blue shepherd on the pad. we are awaiting -- the rocket is going to go into last-minute checks. t -2 minutes and we will throw the show over her. it's all on her gary, do you want to talk what are some of those last-minute checks that the vehicle is going through and we're going to see especially on our screen. >> as you mentioned the last few minutes our auto sequence and that is executed entirely by the vehicle itself through an automated checklist. you will see a couple of things. there are things youdon't see such as sensor checks, pressure checks onthe tank , radio checks . hundreds of different checks but what you will see is the hydraulic systems going up which will wiggle the engine gimbal as well as the afghan. they're making sure that there is no friction and they travel smoothly. >> we are waiting to see that. you'll be able to see a

what do we know about wally funk?ining as an astronaut 60 years ago and she never got to go to space. but now she will. ed: at 82 years old, she will be the oldest person to go to space. she's had such an incredible live. she was part of the mercury 13. an initiative by nasa to prove women could go into space alongside male astronaut colleagues. but the program was shut down. she never did go into space despite completing the official training. she flew more than 19,000 hours as a pilot. and taught 3000 people how to fly. so an incredible story, now being able to do it at 82, even if only for a few minutes. emily: talk to us about what these astronauts are doing. has she been eating her wheaties? what is jeff bezos eating for breakfast? what do they need to do to prepare to do this? ed: we don't really know. we know they are going to turn up three days ahead of the launch. blue origin told me all of the astronauts, pilots, are compliant with the requirement blue origin has set. has wally funk passed the medical in ord

and wally funk, triumphant. she trained to be an astronaut and has been waiting to go to space. >> i loved every minute of it. i just wish it was longer. it was great. i loved it. i can hardly wait to go again. >> reporter: and then it was our turn on the launch pad. and this is the rocket that took them up to space, landing right here on the pad, upright, entirely on its own. blue origin, ready to use it again. our michael strahan, right there with jeff bezos and brother mark, after landing. how does it feel? >> greatest day ever. dsha just t >> it was really amazing. the views were breathtaking. i've never seen anything so beautiful. >> we need to get good at going to space so that we can save the earth. we can work on the problems we have here and we need to look to the future. that's always been the way and that's the only way. >> it was extraordinary to watch. right there with you this morning. gio benitez live from texas. gio, what comes next? plans for more missions? >> reporter: that's right. they have t

about this all my life. >> reporter: along with daemen will be bezos' brother and aviation pioneer wally funk 82, funk will become the oldest person in space. >> it was the best thing that ever happened to me. [ laughter ] >> reporter: it's a lifelong dream for funk who was part of mercury 13, the women-only space group whose space flight was canceled back in 1961. tuesday's launch follows another dream fulfilled. virgin galactic's richard branson became the first person to ride his own rocket out of the earth's atmosphere. >> we wished jeff the absolute best and the people going up with his during his flight. >> perhaps the most remarkable part of this story is the unnamed person who bid $28 million to fly with jeff bezos, then decided they were too busy to go to space. well, one person who you know isn't too busy is 82-year-old wally funk. she's been waiting for this moment for decades. michelle miller has her story. >> reporter: when i met wally funk back in 2013, her love of flight was infectious. >> clap your hands, wiggle your wings. all right, now put your hands back on the wheel. >> r

jeff bezos, mark bezos, wally funk and oliver daemon. what an incredible day. you heard the audio, best day ever. i feel like this is our best day ever, and we didn't even get to go to space. what a day. again, congratulations to the entire new team -- entire new team, -- entire blue team, and the astronauts. there, you see jeff in the window. >> the helix is up. [indiscernible] >> name pressure line or the have -- main pressure line for the hatch. gary: they are moving one of the main piercer lines to make sure it doesn't snag the hatch when it opens. >> there is jeff. thumbs up. you're there, the cc is safe. >> [indiscernible] >> woo hoo! >> confirmed. you can go live. >> woo hoo. >> gary, the architect of new shepard, congratulations to you. give me a hug. this is just -- what, what a day. [laughter] thank you, everybody, for joining us alive for our first human flight of new shepard. our fiyr asked asked our four astronauts went to space and back, topping 450,000 feet, well over 100 kilometers. we are waiting for egress. our cruise what you get out of the c

wally funk is the oldest person to go to space. 1 funk was the youngest member of the mercury 13. the group of 13 women went through astronaut training but at the time women were deemed not fit to go to space. and the program was ultimately canceled. funk went on to become the first female air safety investigator for the ntsb and the first female inspector for the faa. she competed in a number of air races. in 1975 she won the pacific air race from san diego to santa rosa placing first out of 80 competitors. with the blue origin flight she's making history again at 82 years old. funk is oldest person to fly to space. >> we were hoping everything would be fine and it was. so happy for her. >>> a delay for one major bay area company returning to the office. apple is now pushing back its return date from september to october. that's because of a rise in coronavirus cases fueled by variants. the original plan was for workers to come in at least three days a week. apple will give a new warning for when it plans to have them return back t

we all hope to have the day wally funk is having today. i have to ask you. one thing that struck me as i have been watching our coverage, this is a spectacle. you have the choppers, the cameras, the boom lights and the live stream. blue origin has been very clear that they want this to be a big, made for television moment. not everybody likes it. we have had some folks on this program even this morning who say this is a glorified ad for blue origin. they have some problems with it. whether you like it or not, it's very intentional from the company at this moment that they view as history for them. >> reporter: i mean, this is a history-making moment. you have an all-civilian crew going up in a rocket from the middle of the west texas desert piloted from the ground with the rocket returning right on the pad in which it launched from. then a smooth landing from the capsule itself. this is only step one. we have heard jeff bezos say he wants to create a road to space. as far as its impact here, i can tell you, ien went to boy scout camp not too far away from he

. >> as we approach the chefrnds of 82-year-old wally funk. as we watch the civilian crew aboard that aircraft a short time ago, it was wally funk leading them up those stairs. she has been on an aircraft in her day. may -- we will get to mae in a moment. let's talk about the business angle of this for a moment. andrew is with me as well of cnbc. to tom's point, andrew, the thinking here is that roughly a decade from now, this will be a 10 billion dollar industry. folks will be able to shell out a few hundred thousand dollars and experience what we are about to watch these four civilians experience now as well. that is the big bet. no? >> it is the big bet but, in many ways even a bigger bet than that. jeff bezos has spent about $6 billion of his own money on blue origin but the space race is going on between richard branson and elon musk and jeff bezos and all have a different approach. elon musk wants to get people to mars over the long-term so we can escape earth. jeff bezos believes that earth is the best place for humans and wants to buil

again jeff bezos, mark bezos, , wally funk and oliver daemon. what an incredible day. you heard the audio, best day ever. [laughter] i feel like this is our best day ever, and we didn't even get to go to space. i mean what a day. , congratulations to the entire blue team, our astronaut crew, and of course the friends and family of these incredible astronauts. they are just about to exit the capsule. let's wait for that moment. there, you see jeff in the window. >> the helix is up. [indiscernible] >> main pressure line for the hatch. gary: they are moving one of the main parachute lines to make sure it doesn't snag the hatch when it opens. ariane: there is jeff. thumbs up. >> you're there, the cc is safe. ariane: you heard him say the cc is safe. >> [indiscernible] >> woo hoo! >> confirmed. you can go live. go to the cameras. >> woo hoo. ariane: gary, the architect of new shepard, congratulations to you, man. gary: congratulations to you. ariane: give me a hug. this is just -- what, what a day. [laughter] thank you, everybody, for joining us alive for our first human fl

>> reporter: for wally funk, the countdown to this day lasted 60 years. >> was it everything you thoughtbe? >> fantastic! oh, i love it! i love it! >> o'donnell: funk's can-do attitude has been her north star. when told she would never walk again after a skiing accident, she went on to get ore pilot's license at 17. in 18960, she was is it youngest member of the mercury 13, a group of 13 women who proved they had the right stuff. not only did they endure the same grade schooling exams that tested the metal of men like john glenn and alan shepherd but in some cases surpassed them. >> x-raying all your body, every bone and tooth. i had to drink radioactive water. >> o'donnell: today, funk beat glenn's record by five years, becoming the oldest space traveler at 82. >> the oldest person in space, you! >> thank you! >> o'donnell: she's now a newly- minted astronaut. >> we had a great time. it was wonderful. i want to go again, fast! >> o'donnell: her souvenir from the mission, a tail from one of the parachutes that brought her safely back to earth. though for the next few days,ea. she'll be w

among his crew was 82-year-old pilot wally funk.wally funk back in 2013, her love of flight was infectious. >> clap your hands, wiggle your wings. >> reporter: funk has s she had her first flight lesson at age 9, became a licensed pilot by the age of 17 and has logged more than 19,000 flying hours. but her dream of going to space eluded her, until now. >> we're going to fly you up into space on the very first flight. >> you open the hatch and you step outside, what's the first thing you say? >> i will say, honey, that was the best thing that ever happened to me. >> reporter: but her pathway to the stars was not an easy one. in the 1960s while america's first astronauts were going through nasa's rigorous training, funk was part of the "mercury 13", a group of 13 women who went through the same uncompromising exams. >> we had no idea what we were going through. we didn't know where it was taking us. x-raying all your body, every bone, every tooth. sticking water in your ears. i had to drink radioactive water. >> so these were painful,

we heard wally funk say, it's dark up here. just to hear her wonder -- of course, it's dark up there. the small things, realizing the darkness of space, the vastness of space, the vacuum of space looking down on our earth. it's borderless. it's obvious there are no borders on our planet. but seeing that from above, the kind of impact that has on those people, i mean, that's what we're all waiting to hear about in the press conference. >> there were cameras aboard as well. we anticipate we'll see those, probably there is going to be a press conference at 11:30 eastern time, 10:30 local time here with jeff bezos and the others, so we'll obviously bring that to you as well. colonel chris hatfield, how, how important is this? because obviously, look, a lot of people will be looking at this skeptically, look, this is billionaires playing with toys, and this is stuff that doesn't have any impact on, you know, a family's life right now. hardly anyone can afford a flight like this. what is the importance of this? >> there will always b

wally funk, excuse me, i think i said wally lamb. wally funk. her full name is mary wallace funk. called wally funk. also, oliver damon, 18 years old, we were talking with rachel and kristen. they were -- he will be heading to college this fall. quite a lucky young man, and ja jeff bezos' brother mark, a volunteer firefighter, he is making this trip with his brother and best friend. that is what we have, kristen and rachel here as well. as you watch this, rachel, what do you think? >> i mean, i can't help but start to get a little excited here. when you cover launches, anderson, as you know, they usually don't take off on time. so you can't get really too excited until the astronauts are strapped in their seats and on board. this is obviously not an orbital mission so they don't have to do that as far in advance. we're seeing them in that holding bin up there. so shortly -- in just a few minutes we're going to see them cross the gantry and do the process ingress where they get into their seats. crew member 7, it's a role unique to blue origin. that's the 7th crew member because th

in terms of wally funk, how excited am i for her. because as part of the mercury 13, these were women who were pilots, very accomplish pilots in their own right, who did the same tests that all of the guys with the right stuff, the mercury astronauts did, the women did as well or better than the men on all of the tests and yet the decision was we're not going to fly women. and that is back in the 1960s. so for her to still be around and have the opportunity and bezos to extend that opportunity for her to fly, i believe it is very special and i'm excited for her. >> dr. jameson, you mentioned that difference here. you flew to space during a time when it was at least for americans the sole province of nasa. a massive government institution and government and military institution. app now you have not just bezos' company but others flying tourists to space but in the case of elon musk, flying commercial pay loads and government pay loads to space. including astronauts to the space station. what difference does it make for this to now be

the elation, did you see wally funk when she came out? i told you she was probably going to do a cartwheel as she came out of the capsule. what an incredible incredible day. a couple more moments of this. spaceflight, so much engineering, so much objective hard engineering, technical thought that goes into it. when you put people on board, there is such an incredible emotional component to this. the time, the effort, the blood, sweat and tears, you know this better than everybody else, congratulations. >> congratulations to the entire blue origin team. this may have look easy today. it was anything but easy. to design a vehicle like this that is so safe that anybody can get on board. >> wally funk today became the world's oldest astronaut at 82, to oliver daemen who became the world's youngest astronaut at 18 joining us from the netherlands, big shout out to our viewers in the netherlands, you should be very very proud of your countrymen, representing the next generation of people that are going to go into space was i can't wait to see wh

it's going to bode well in the future. >> 82-year-old wally funk becoming the oldest person in space part of that initial mercury 13 group back in the '60s. she's completed her mission all these decades later. >> can you talk about what this means? >> wally is an enthusiastic supporter of space flight and now i think she has the wherewithal with enthusiasm more if it's at all possible. she i think will help spread the word and communicate how special space is to every generation. that's important for everybody to understand. again, it's about understanding that life can be changed by being in space but besides the emotional impact of being there, i think the potential for actual utilization of space is huge and educating people about these differences is going to be important in our future. >> thank you all for being with us, incredible expertise, incredible stories and a great perspective. we appreciate it, morgan chesky standing by in west texas as we wait to hear from jeff bezos, wally funk and oliver damon. in a few minutes from now bezos joining a small club fulfilling this decad

on the flight was the oldest person who has been to space — 82—year—old wally funk, and the youngest,our correspondent sophie long reports from texas. preparing to board his 60 foot sub—orbital rocket. he was not nervous, he said. just excited. this was notjust about realising a lifelong dream, but expanding his ever—growing empire beyond the grip of gravty. with him on this first fully autonomous passenger flight three other civilians — his brother mark bezos, 82—year—old trail blazing aviator wally funk and 18—year—old dutch student oliver daemen. she was one of the victory13, a group of american women training to be astronauts but never made it to space. until now. six, five, four, command engines start, two, one. as you can hear, blue origin�*s reuseable rocket, carrying its first human passengers and first paying customer, is now on its way to space. blast off for the new shepard, lift off for space tourism. the capsule separated from the post or attune a 50,000 feet and continue to the edge of space. they floated, weightless, enjoying what those who have seen it say is a life—ch

. ♪ ♪ >> at the age of 82, wally funk went into the space for the first time with amazon founder jeffver travel into space. she was originally part of the mere cue ri 13 -- mercury 13 lady astronauts from the early 60s, a group of women who went rigorous training but never selected to go into space. on american history tv's oral history series, wally funk recalled the earliest days of the space program. here's a portion of that interview. >> as you came down for the first phase of testing, what were some of those tests, and at any point, did you stop and think what am i doing or anything along those lines? >> last question first, no, i had not a shadow of a doubt. i was their subject. they could do anything with me that they wanted to do. and i didn't know that you could get x-rayed from head to toe, and it would take a whole day and every single tooth and every single bone, but they wanted perfect specimens at that time. let's go back to the men, the mercury. there were 159 men selected from the armed services to go through these tests. how many were selected? >> [inaudible]. >> 25 w

a dream come true for wally funk .they will have an experience of the change astronauts report, of seeing the spectacular view of earth that you can only get from outside the atmosphere. tom: jon ferro mentioned mr. funk, 82 years old. tell us about the ethical care with 3g's going up and five or six geez -- g'going down. emily: the astronauts were medically evaluated for this flight. it is that ultimately anyone can go up and down. you do not have to have special astronaut training. you do not have to be preparing for this all your life. wally funk seems to be in great shape and certainly has great energy. there are height and weight requirements. there are steps of chair -- there are steps to the crew capsule. they have to be able to zip up a flight suit. that is basically it. they have gone through two days of training, 14 hours altogether . some emergency simulations. but the idea is that anyone ultimately will be able to take this ride. jonathan: i make for crew members on the capsule now, jeff bezos the first to

bezos is on it, along with wally funk, mercury 13 astronaut that didn't get to go. >> we keep callingthere. >> but there's no -- >> ind, there's no pilots. there's a crew 18-year-old oliver damon, who is kind of a cool kid i saw him yesterday. gregarious. >> lucked out. >> his dad was bidding on it originally and cavuto asked why did your decide not to go? he said he was afraid of heights. 65 miles is -- there it is cool suits that they're in it should be neat for that three-minute period. >> i would definitely throw up. >> did you throw up on the way in this morning? >> no. >> you didn't hit a pot hole that usually does it for you. >> if you watch when richard branson did it, there was a lot of sponsored stuff go ing on. >> i doubt bezos would do that. >> land rovers going. >> that seems like a branson thing, not necessarily a bezos thing. >> i think the other suits were un und underarmour. >> i would be shocked if there were sponsors. >> i couldn't to this part as they keep getting up the steps. >> this is too high for you? >> i'm really afraid of heights. >> get you a caribiner and

and aviation pioneer named wally funk. she's amazing zone will she'll be the oldest person ever in space at 82 and then the youngest person ever to go 18 year-old. >> oliver. daemen, whose dad had the second right. the 28 million dollars that backed out because the schedule, a with a place and i would love. i have lunch that chickened out at the last minute. but the 18 year-old is taking his place becoming the youngest person ever to be sent into space. it's going to be pretty interesting. in fact, we're actually hearing from all over about the experience he's expecting. >> he'll possibility some young says space and to get more people in just the space space and science signal when it touched down in the i think of speech this. >> dutch a dutch billionaire from the netherlands. you think his game that american do think they give that american cowboy you think it probably from texas funny. >> so again, blue origins launch is set for about 45 minutes from now. and by the way, it's also the 52nd anniversary of the moon landi

they all look physically in good shape, bounding out, wally funk leaping out the doorway. they'll get medical tests to make sure vitals are good before they address the press in a couple minutes. >> halle, you're right. they have medical staff on site. they're undergoing screening to make sure re-entry process is smooth as possible. that said, remember that capsule touched down here in west texas, you saw the crew member run up, give a thumb's up to each of the crew members inside. did the initial check, making sure everyone was okay, then you can see from smiles and hugs shared, appear to be doing just fine, but there are steps in place blue origin is keeping to make sure they can essentially be the first crew of many to come. the company has said they plan to have two more flights this year, one in september, one in october. reusing the rockets, and to see the cheers and smiles and now champagne toast it seems, there's no shortage of excitement. we can feel it here miles and miles away. goosebumps are very real. just an incredible moment. halle? >> triumphant moment for

mark, and the youngest ever astronaut — oliver daemen — and the oldest pioneering female aviator wally funklimate crisis. john kerry warned that the suffering cause by not tackling global warming would be much worse than coronavirus. the uk prime minister's former adviser, dominic cummings tells the bbc he held discussions about trying to oust borisjohnson in downing street within days of the conservatives winning the last election. the uk government says it is crucial for people to isolate if they are alerted by the covid app but earlier a minister said people could make an informed decision. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be

congratulations to all of you. [ cheers ] >>> 82-year-old wally funk. talk about a spry 82-year-old. right? after taking it in and then they towelled off after the champagne. bezos spoke to our anderson cooper. >> best day ever. and i wouldn't pick a best part. could you pick a best part? i don't have the tall don't put into words what we just experienced. i'll try, but i don't. >> was it different than you thought it was going to be? >> my expectations were up here, and they were exceeded. >> cnn's christen fisher was there on the launch. what was that like, christen? seeing this historic mission from the ground in person? >> i got to say, it was pretty cool. we all got to watch the reusable rocket system lift off two miles behind me, and we also just watched all four of those crew members officially become astronauts in blue origin's eyes. some people say they're tourists. they say they are astronauts. moments ago at the press conference they earned their astronaut wings. only, instead of your traditional pin, they got a pin that is in the shape of a

it�*s a moment wally funk has been waiting 60 years for. in the 19605 waiting 60 years for.astronaut. , . training programme to become astronaut-— astronaut. they asked me, do ou astronaut. they asked me, do you want _ astronaut. they asked me, do you want to — astronaut. they asked me, do you want to be _ astronaut. they asked me, do you want to be an _ astronaut. they asked me, do you want to be an astronaut? | astronaut. they asked me, do| you want to be an astronaut? i said yes! they told me that i had done better and completed the work faster than any of the guys. so i got a hold of nasa and i said i want to become an astronaut. but nobody would take me. ., ., ., ., take me. none of the women from the programme — take me. none of the women from the programme ever— take me. none of the women from the programme ever made - take me. none of the women from the programme ever made it - take me. none of the women from the programme ever made it to . the programme ever made it to space and now at 82 wally funk is going to change that. she has spent a lifetime flying and served

at 82 wally funk is set to become the oldest u.s. astronaut ever in a few moments. lindn st the journey was far from easy. this morning, a moment six decades in the making just moments away. 82-year-old wally funk once denied the opportunity to pursue her dream of becoming an astronaut because of her gender set to blast off on the first crew flight for jeff bezos' space ferried firm blue origin. the amazon founder surprising funk with the news in a video he shared on instagram. >> we open the hatch and you step outside, what's the first thing you say. >> honey, that was the best thing that ever happened to me. >> reporter: wally, you trained to go to space in the '60s. what does it mean 60 years later? >> well, i had a lot of training in those weeks before, or in 1960, not only in america but i went to russia and i trained with the cosmonauts and not until about two or three weeks after my training did i -- was told that i did better than the men. >> by the way, she's still doing better than the men. >> oh, no. >> she can outrun all of us. she's 82 years old and she

it's a moment wally funk has been waiting 60 years for.ent training programme to become astronauts. they asked me, "do you want to be an astronaut?" i said, "yes!" they told me that i had done better and completed the work faster than any of the guys. so i got a hold of nasa fourtimes, isaid, "i want to become an astronaut." nobody would take me! none of the women for the programme ever made it to space, and now at 82, wally funk is going to change that. she spent a lifetime flying and served as america's first female air safety investigator and first female military flight instructor. but not content with blazing just one trail, she's now set to become the oldest person ever to travel into space. woo! i can hardly wait! a ten—minute flight with a lifetime's worth of significance. courtney bembridge, bbc news. where space is concerned there is that ongoing rivalry and while jeff bezos is that ongoing rivalry and whilejeff bezos has made that decision, sir richard branson has made the date that he will fly to the edge of space. it will beju

. >>> and 82-year-old wally funk fulfills her lifelong dream of getting to space. we're going to talk to her friend who shared that same dream. your cloud... it isn't just a cloud. it's everything flowing through it. and it's more distributed than ever. one company takes you inside. giving you visibility and insight...to take action. one company... securely connects it all... on any platform, in any environment. between your cloud and being cloud-smart, there's a bridge. cisco. the bridge to possible. before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn... claire could only imagine enjoying chocolate cake. now, she can have her cake and eat it too. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? >>> just in to cnn, new york city mayor bill de blasio is now requiring health workers to show proof of vaccination status or take a weekly coronavirus test as a condition of showing up to work. the new policy will affect employees at 11 public city-run hospitals as well as nursing homes and cl

astronaut wings today. >> there are few people i know more deserving of this, jeff >> reporter: for wally funk, who nasa never allowed to fly because of her gender, a celebration 60 years in the making. >> and i want to thank you, sweetheart, because you made it possible for me. i've been waiting a long time to finally get it up there! >> reporter: now the oldest person to ever go to space, joined by the youngest, 18-year-old oliver among the memorabilia on board, amelia earhart's aviator goggles. looking down at the earth's atmosphere, says bezos, makes climate change very real >> what you see is it is actually incredibly thin it is this tiny, little, fragile thing. and as we move about the planet we are damaging it. >> reporter: criticized for spending billions on a space tourism business, bezos is now facing backlash for this comment >> i want to thank every amazon employee and every amazon customer because you guys paid for all of this. >> reporter: he earlier used the spotlight to announce a new philanthropic initiative, giving away $200 million for charities. meanwhile, bezos announced $

also on board are 82-year-old aviation pioneer wally funk and bezos's own brother mark. they'll launch from van horn, texas. the blue origin capsule is entirely automated that required two pilots when it flew to space last week. mark straisman reports on how bezos and his team are preparing for the big launch. >> reporter: as jeff bezos sees space. >> we are excited. >> reporter: two days of training is all he needs, all anyone needs to become an astronaut. >> this is an exact replica of what they'll fly on tuesday. >> exactly. >> reporter: arian showed us. >> these are the largest windows ever flown in space. >> reporter: she's selling tickets to wanna be astronauts. this is an experience. >> it is an experience. >> reporter: launch in a rocket, separation, 62 miles above earth, float in microgravity before parachutes and thruster rockets land the capsule back in the desert of west texas. >> we set out to create the safest human flights vehicle ever designed or built or operated. we think we have succeeded. >> bezos dreams big of space, of colonizing the cosmos. >> this

1960s but did not make it to space because of her gender is getting another chance 82-year-old wally funks been picked by jeff bezos for his july 20th blue origih her. >> i'm ready i've been trained -- >> reporter: there's no doubt wally funk i an honored guest on the new shepherd rocket to fly into outer space. >> i feel fantastic! i'm so, so surprised but i won't know more until everything comes around. >> reporter: they did give her an idea of what to expect from the ten-minute flight. >> zero gravity for four minutes. you come back down we land gently on the desert surface. >> reporter: it will be a quick trip she's waited a lifetime for. funk often lectures about her journey and shares with young kids she was among the so-calle through astronaut training in the '60s being a woman, she was never allowed into space at that time all nasa astronauts were men >> i'm just so glad that they're finally going to be realized i'm so happy for her >> reporter: bruce bleakley knows funk well. he was director of emery aviation college and hired funk as a senior pilot in 1987. he says her life's wo

youngest astronaut ever. >> reporter: along with deaman will be bezos brother and aviation pioneer, wally funk the oldest person in space. >> that was the best day that ever happened to me. >> reporter: it is a lifelong dream for funk who was part of mercury 13, the women-only space group whose space flight was cancelled back in 1961. >> release, release, release. >> tuesday's launch follows another dream fulfilled. >> to all you kids down there, i was once a kid with a dream looking up to the stars. >> reporter: one week ago virgin galactic's richard bran son became the first person to ride his own rocket out of earth's atmosphere. >> we wish jeff the absolute best and the people going up with them during his flight. >> but unlike branson's space craft blue origin is fully automated without pilots on board. mola lenghi, cbs news, new york. >> duncan: so exciting.'ll al w. that is the cbs weekend news for this sunday. coming up, "60 minutes." thanks for staying with us. i'm jericka duncan in new york. have a great night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh acces

damon will be the youngest person ever to fly in space while wally funk at 82 is set to become the oldest person to become an astronaut. next week's flight comes after sir richard branson successfully reached space on a virgin galactic aircraft earlier this week. can you imagine, you know, this kid comes back. what did you do on your summer vacation? >> space. >> the best report ever. >> right. yeah, he is going to have to give a report after that. >> right. >> thanks, bertha. >> i could take my kids. >>> 4:45 right now. coming up next on "today in the bay" governor newsom getting support in the bay. plus a look at the forecast. >>> it will be a good time outside. going for high temperatures in the south bay starting in the upper 50s. we have the mid 70s today, but changes ahead in the weekend forecast. more on that in a minute. >>> we are looking at richmond, that side of the richmond bridge. hey, where were the cars? i just saw them. the ones coming toward us are going west, the ones away from us are from the north. we will talk about what is coming and time out the routes coming up. >>

. >> one of the passengers, 82 year-old wally funk talks about her 60 year wait to make the journey. we're at the launch site. we're at the launch site. we check in welcome! it's time to see which chew is best in show for long-lasting flea and tick protection. we may be here for weeks, or even months! holy smokes, a rejection in protection at week 5! but bravecto just won't quit! let's hear from our veterinarian expert. bravecto's our clear winner. 12 weeks of powerful protection, nearly 3 times longer than any other chew. now that's what i'm talking about! bravo, bravecto! bravo! this is not just innovation. this is smarter innovation. this is the light wall refrigerator, that's a real illuminator. this is cool, controlled, connected. this is ge profile. don't settle for products that give you a sort of white smile. try new crest whitening emulsions this is cool, controlled, connected. for 100% whiter teeth. its highly active peroxide droplets swipe on in seconds. better. faster. 100% whiter teeth. crestwhitesmile.com i order my groceries online now. shingles doesn't care. i keep my

tomorrow's flight with wally funk, which you see here. end of the month, boeing is doing a test. i am particularly delighted to see wally funk going up. i wrote a book about the astronauts program that she participated in when she was 22 years old. it is just a stroke of genius in terms of the connection with space history, to include wally funk now. she will become tomorrow, when they fly, the oldest person to go into space. it is nice to see that dream long deferred finally come true for her. amber: she is the real star of the show. 82 years young, heading up into space. we were talking about all of these various space programs, the rivalries and the narratives we assign to it. from your perspective, how different are these billionaire initiatives? in the and, aren't they working toward some kind of common goal, accessibility outside of our planet? margaret: honestly, this is something people have been talking about since the 1980's, a real interest in having spaceflight moved from something done by nations to something done by private

bezos's brother mark bezos will accompany him, an 82-year-old wally funk. >> wally, good to see you. i brought you one. >> reporter: funk a pilot who trained for nasa's mercury program but was denied the opportunity to go to space because of her gender. >> right for you right here, 28 million looking for 29 million. >> reporter: an additional seat was auctioned off, winning bid at $28 million. the winner had scheduling conflicts so 18-year-old oliver damond is now filling that seat, kicking off the company's commercial operations. so, if all goes to plan, both the oldest and youngest person ever to travel to space will be on this flight. the astronauts have been going through their training at launch site 1, which includes a flight simulator that we got to experience. the company says they have two additional crewed flights scheduled for 2021. >> oh, wow. that's a thud. 7,500 people participated in the auction. what does that tell you guys about the market for these flights? >> people have global interest in coming to fly to space. i think it's part of the human experience of wanting

passenger flight three other civilians — his brother mark bezos, 82—year—old trail blazing aviator wally funke mercury 13, a group of american women training to be astronauts but never made it to space. until now. five, four, command engines start, two, one. as you can hear, blue 0rigin�*s reuseable rocket, carrying its first human passengers and first paying customer, is now on its way to space. blast off for the new shepard, lift off for space tourism. the capsule separated from the booster a 250,000 feet and continue to the edge of space. they floated, weightless, but critics say this is the wrong time for them to be floating in space. oh, my god! my expectations were high, and they were dramatically exceeded. everybody who has been up into space, they say this, that it changes them and they look at it and they are kind of amazed and awestruck. i want to thank you, sweetheart, because you made it possible for me. i've been waiting a long time. a historic step in the richest man on earth's mission to move industry into orbit. sophie long, bbc news, in the west texas desert. steven levy is e

the thumbs up for all of our astronauts that are on board there, again, jeff bezos, mark bezos, wally funk and oliver daemen, what an incredible day. you heard them on the audio, best day ever. i feel like it's our best day ever and we didn't get to go to space. what a day. again, congratulations to the entire blue team, our astronaut crew and of course, the friends and family of these incredible astronauts, they're just about to exit the capsule here, let's wait for that moment. there you see jeff in the window. >> there you are. >> up here. got a line in front of the hatch. >> there's a main parachute line. >> okay. we'll have to leave this here as the u.s. senate is about to gavel in this morning. this is in keeping with our long-term commitment to bring you live gavel to gavel coverage of congress. you can continue watching our blue origins launch coverage on

higher, faster, longer. >> higher, faster, longer, go wally funk. we will be watching and cheering. for watching. i'm linsey davis. for david and all of us here, good night >>> the alameda company behind -- have gone publicgone publicgc could help establish the u.s. as a leader in a global space race. >> san francisco is ready to put on a big fireworks show but are they ready to handle big crowds? i am cornell bernard. i we'll have that story.>>> in the amount of shade on the street be a sign of how much money your neighbors make? you will be surprised at with the trees can tell you.tell you. >>> what is old is new again. after pausing for the pandemic, san francisco revives itself in time for the fourth of july. with old favorites, we are seeing some old problems. a good evening. thank you for joining us. >>> your watching abc7 news at 6:00 live here and whatever you stream. we are happy to report on economic recoveries in the bay area because they are a part of building a better bay area. that is a spectators are expected to flock to san francisco this weekend but is the city read

higher, faster, longer. >> higher, faster, longer, go wally funk. we will be watching and cheering. for watching. i'm linsey davis. for adavid and all of us here, good night. >>> now from abc7, lila breaking news. >>> that breaking news is out of sacramento. a data set for the governor newsome recall election.ll elec. this afternoon the lieutenant governor announced a the election will be on tuesday, september 14. the decision came hours after secretary of state shirley weber sent notice that a sufficient number of valid petition signatures were collected allowing the election to take place. the groups submitted more than 2.6 million signatures. according to valid pedia, 68 people have announcedhave annout 4:00. >>> now to our other top story this afternoon. a woman and young girl are fighting for their lives after a brazen shooting inna balyko that a witness says started with fireworks and left a local church riddled with bullets. as laura anthony tells us, police are looking for at least one shooter. >> >> this man who doesn't want to be identified was near the evangelist temple f