This photograph shows an Aero Spacelines Guppy-series aircraft, famously advertised as the 'Largest Airplane in the World.' Developed in the early 1960s by modifying surplus Boeing C-97 Stratocruiser airframes with a vastly enlarged fuselage, these aircraft were purpose-built to transport oversized rocket stages and spacecraft components for NASA's Apollo program, ferrying Saturn rocket sections between manufacturing plants and launch facilities. The Guppy aircraft exemplify the creative repurposing of military-derived aviation technology to support the American space program during the 1960s space race. Project: 218474