Virgin Galactic ticket holder who met Blue Origin passenger Wally Funk at parties said the 82-year-old had ‘the energy of 6,000 Labradors’

• A Virgin Galactic ticket holder told Insider that Wally Funk was very “low-key” and energetic.

• Caroline Freeland, who trains for her space flight, said she met Funk at parties and talks.

• Freeland said she had also met Richard Branson, whom she described as a “lovely guy”.

• See more stories on the Insider business page.

Wally Funk, who flew into space with Jeff Bezos on Tuesday, bounces back and has endless energy.

This is according to Virgin Galactic ticket holder Caroline Freeland, who told Insider that she has met the 82-year-old on multiple occasions.

After purchasing her $ 250,000 ticket for a trip to the far reaches of outer space aboard Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spacecraft, Freeland, 58, was invited to former astronaut Buzz’s 49th and 50th birthday parties. Aldrin.

The three-day celebrations at Cape Canaveral saw Freeland meet many well-known astronauts, including Funk, who is the oldest person to ever travel to space.

Freeland, who previously trained for his space flight with Virgin Galactic, described Funk as “very low-key … engaging, easy, charming, cheerful and fun.”

The recent Blue Origin astronaut “really bounces around … she has the energy of 6,000 Labradors,” Freeland said.

Funk was part of a group of female aviators called the Mercury 13 in anticipation of flying into space in the 1960s, but she never got the chance to go. Bezos asked Funk to join him, his brother, and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen on a space trip aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.

Funk also traveled to London and gave a speech about his experience in the space industry to 10-15 Virgin Galactic ticket holders, which Freeland said he attended.

Freeland said these encounters were “one of the wonderful things about this whole journey of becoming a future astronaut.”

The ticket holder and future astronaut said she had also met Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson, whom she described as a “lovely guy”. Branson defeated Bezos within nine days when Virgin Galactic flew its first crewed mission 55 miles above Earth.

Freeland, who is based in London, said she also met former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino at the parties.

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