NASA’s gigantic ‘Super Guppy’ cargo plane ships spacecraft destined for Mars

NASA's Super Guppy © nasa.gov

A manned mission to Mars is a little closer after a big move from NASA on Monday. A Super Guppy cargo jet was used to transfer the Orion spacecraft pressure vessel from Louisiana to Florida, where it will conduct a test flight in 2018.

 

“The pressure vessel will fly on the first integrated launch of Orion and NASA's powerful new rocket, the Space Launch System,” NASA posted on its website Monday. “The test flight, which will fly without crew, will demonstrate the agency’s new capability to launch future deep space missions, which include missions to an asteroid and Mars.”
The pressure vessel will provide life support for the astronauts eventually boarding Orion, NASA’s replacement to its Space Shuttle program. Just short of 11 feet tall, Orion will fit four astronauts.
After being upgraded for deep space exploration at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, the pressure vessel will be tested at the Kennedy Space Center before finally being aligned with the rest of the Orion spacecraft. But it was the humongous Super Guppy that captured much of the day’s attention.