The Aero Spacelines 'Pregnant Guppy,' seen here on June 13, 1963, was a radically modified Boeing C-97/377 Stratocruiser fitted with a vastly enlarged upper fuselage to carry outsized cargo that no other aircraft of its era could accommodate. Developed specifically to transport NASA's Saturn rocket stages between manufacturing plants and launch facilities, the Guppy played a critical, if unglamorous, supporting role in the American space program during the Apollo era. Though not a military aircraft, images like this one illustrate the close relationship between contract aviation services and the U.S. government's Cold War-era aerospace ambitions. Project: 218463