Airbus later built their own cargo plane for outsize loads, the A300-600 ST Super Transporter, generally called Beluga, a design that's very similar to the Guppy.

Summary: The Aero Spacelines Guppy, an oddly-shaped cargo plane, played a crucial role in the Space Race by transporting rocket parts across the United States, significantly reducing shipment times.

Watch NASA’s bizarre and bulbous Super Guppy cargo plane touch down in Alabama. Although currently the last of its kind, the line of chonky boys has long played a vital role in spacecraft logistics.

The plane on display in Oshkosh, is known as a Super Guppy Turbine. It was built in 1982. It's unique hinged nose opens 110 degrees, so cargo can be loaded through the front of the aircraft.

Inside NASA’s Super Guppy The massive cargo aircraft was designed in the 1960s specifically to handle oversized loads, like the body sections of the Saturn V rocket.

In the middle of that decade, Aero Spacelines built the larger Super Guppy, incorporating a 25-foot (7.6-meter) diameter cargo bay and a hinged nose that made it easier to load cargo.

The Super Guppy is capable of hauling loads of more than 26 tons and boasts a cargo compartment 25 feet tall, 25 feet wide, and 111 feet long, according to NASA.

A guppy might be prey, but the Super Guppy is a predator. The bloated aircraft has been retired by every institution in the world except for one: NASA. The U.S. space agency finds the Guppy’s ...

The Super Guppy was also bigger and more powerful than its predecessor – 14 feet longer, with a cargo bay diameter of 25 feet, and newer, stronger, lighter engines.

The plane on display in Oshkosh, known as a Super Guppy Turbine, was built in 1982. It's unique hinged nose opens 110 degrees, so cargo can be loaded through the front of the aircraft.