As a result, the company has used large cargo aircraft to fulfill this role. Its first aircraft used for this purpose were four Aero Spacelines Super Guppy cargo planes, which were based on the ...

The Super Guppy’s precious cargo was NASA’s Orion spacecraft, a new crew capsule that’s designed to take future astronauts into deep space and eventually to the vicinity of the Moon.

The Super Guppy can handle 48,000 pounds of cargo. It's hauled Boeing V-22 Ospry airplanes, pairs of Navy T-38 jets and, in an earlier model, segments of Saturn rockets. Its cargo bay is 111 feet ...

The giant tanker looked an awful lot like a pregnant fish—at the time, ... The Super Guppy is on display at the show center at EAA AirVenture 2023 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

One big problem of the space race was figuring out how to get giant rocket parts to Cape Kennedy. They were far too big for the road and for rail, so NASA used slow barges. In 1961, Aero Spaceline ...

For the delicate business of moving giant spaceship parts across the country. Weighing in at 101,500 pounds empty , the Guppy can carry up to 52,500 pounds inside its spacious 25-foot tall, 25 ...

The 1961 Guppy plane, referred to as the "Pregnant Guppy," was a design conceived by former U.S. Air Force pilot Jack Conroy. It was essentially a modification of the Boeing Model 377.

A final Super Guppy Turbine debuted in 1970, and remained in use by NASA for over 25 years. In 1997, the agency purchased one of two newer Super Guppy Turbines built by Airbus.