NASA 'Super Guppy' Swallows Supersonic Jets (Photos)

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Super Guppy Swallows T-38s

Credit: NASA

Two retired NASA T-38 trainers mounted on a transport pallet atop a mobile transporter are positioned for loading aboard NASA's Super Guppy prior to ferrying them to El Paso, Texas, for disassembly. Image released March 21, 2013.

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Guiding the T-38

Credit: NASA

Workmen carefully guide the first of the T-38s into place as it is hoisted onto its pallet. Image released March 21, 2013.

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Guiding the T-38s

Credit: NASA

The second retired T-38 joins its companion on the special transport pallet. Image released March 21, 2013.

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Securing the T-38

Credit: NASA

As the Super Guppy awaits its cargo in the background, workmen secure the second T-38 to its transport pallet. Image released March 21, 2013.

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The 'Mouth' of the Guppy

Credit: NASA

After opening the nose section of the Guppy, hoisting the T-38s onto a specially designed pallet atop a mobile transporter, loading the pallet and T-38s onto the Guppy and then reclosing the Guppy's nose section – about a 2.5-hour process – the Guppy departed for El Paso. Image released March 21, 2013.

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T-38 Swallowed by Super Guppy

Credit: NASA

A NASA Super Guppy transport plane "swallowed" two NASA T-38 aircraft whole March 18, right out on NASA Dryden Flight Research Center's back ramp. Image released March 21, 2013.

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Super Guppy Closing Up

Credit: NASA

The Super Guppy is the latest iteration of its kind – the last of three outsized aircraft to have transported a number of NASA's hefty payloads ranging from Saturn rockets to International Space Station modules. Image released March 21, 2013,

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Super Guppy Lifts Off the Runway

Credit: NASA/Tony Landis

NASA's outsized SGT Super Guppy-Turbine transport aircraft lifts off the runway at Edwards Air Force Base after a prior visit.

NASA 'Super Guppy' Swallows Supersonic Jets (Photos)

Super Guppy Swallows T-38s

Guiding the T-38

Guiding the T-38s

Securing the T-38

The 'Mouth' of the Guppy

T-38 Swallowed by Super Guppy

Super Guppy Closing Up

Super Guppy Lifts Off the Runway

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