A specialized aircraft of NASA "Super Guppy" landed at Mesa Gateway Airport in early March 2021. Mesa Gateway Airport has been a regular stop for the airplane in order to refill the fuel. The official of the airport has shared that the plane has been stopping there at regular intervals of time during the course of carrying the Orion heat Shield.
The Super Guppy last landed at the Airport in 2014. It was carrying the hybrid wing body aircraft.
Mesa Gateway is an international airport located in Mesa, Arizona. The Phonix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority has owned the airport. It is also the reliever airport for the "Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport." Six-members board of the town of Queen Creek and Gilbert including the mayors of the town are the board members.
What Is Super Guppy?
The aircraft of NASA “The Super Guppy” is especially famous for its unique shape. The bulbous fuselage kind of shape creates its appearance look top-heavy. NASA has been using aircraft for several decades for the smooth transportation of heavy cargo.
The aircraft can take off carrying 170,000 pounds of weight. It has four turbine engines along with propellers. The cruising speed of the aircraft is 250 miles per hour. It also can reach the height of 25,000 feet.
NASA has been using this aircraft since the 60s for the transportation of huge rocket parts. It had eased the work of the research and save time. NASA used to rely on boats for the shipping of rocket parts even for the lengthy distance via the Panama Canal or the Gulf of Mexico before the use of “Super Guppy.”
How Many Super Guppies Are There?
The “Pregnant Guppy” was the first “Guppy model” with the name “The Pregnant Guppy” in 1961. It was manufactured by Aero Spaceline Industries. The modification of the Boeing KC-97 Stratotaker resulted in the first “Guppy Mode.” It was designed to transfer the huge second stage of a “Saturn rocket” during NASA’s Apollo program. It was 51 years ago.
Ancient photo of Pregnant Guppy Photo: the first member of the Guppy Aircraft (©: Wikipedia)
The Super Guppy came into operation in 1965. It has served in the transportation of the Gemini, International Space Station, and Apollo.
Photo of The Super Guppy Photo landing on Arizona (©: NASA)
French airliner giant Airbus is the owner of four aircraft made in order to transfer the equipment across Europe.
Differences Between Pregnant Guppy And The Super Guppy
The major difference between the "Pregnant Guppy" and "The Super Guppy" is the detachment of the tail from the previous model for loading payloads in the cargo holds and in case of the latter on the nose has been kept open.
The Super Guppy is also huge in size and has a more length of 14 meters and a diameter of 25 feet. Its engine has been upgraded and it is still in the lighter version.
“The Super Guppy Turbine” (SGT) was the last and upgraded version of the previous version.
Photo of The Super Guppy Turbine landing on the runway (©: Wikipedia)
NASA made a three-way deal with Airbus and the “European Space Agency” (ESA) in order to replace the old “Super Guppy” It was after Airbus retired all four SGTs in 1997.