This component will demonstrate new technologies for the space agency

Mar 31, 2014 08:05 GMT  ·  By
NASA's Super Guppy at the Redstone Army Airfield near Huntsville, Alabama, on March 26, 2014
   NASA's Super Guppy at the Redstone Army Airfield near Huntsville, Alabama, on March 26, 2014

The image above shows one of the most interesting aircraft in the world, NASA's Super Guppy. This large, wide-body airplane is built by Aero Spacelines and its main role is to haul cargo that is atypical, asymmetrical, and bulky in nature. The Super Guppy is the successor of Pregnant Guppy, an older model developed by the same company. 

This aircraft is similar in size and role to the Airbus A300-600ST (Super Transporter/Beluga), which is a heavily-modified version of the A300-600 wide-body airliner capable of carrying aircraft parts and oversized cargo with ease. A similar design and function is also achieved by the Boeing 747 Dreamlifter, which the company uses to ferry aircraft components from various suppliers.

The Super Guppy you see above landed at the Redstone Army Airfield near Huntsville, Alabama, on March 26, carrying an innovative composite rocket fuel tank developed under the auspices of the NASA Game Changing Development Program. The latter is managed by the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington, DC.

The tank was developed by Tukwila, Washington-based Boeing Developmental Center, and is meant to “help the GCDP identify and rapidly mature innovative/high-impact capabilities and technologies for infusion in a broad array of future NASA missions,” a NASA report says. In addition to this component, a revolutionary new Exoskeleton (X1) is also being developed under this program.