July 16

The spectacular view from Apollo 11 just after leaving Earth orbit

England have

The Apollo 11 space rocket has taken off successfully from Cape Kennedy, Florida, at the start of the first attempt to land a man on the Moon.

An estimated one million people gathered from all over the state to see the giant Saturn 5 booster rocket blast off.

The launch was on schedule, at 1432 BST (1332 GMT).

Nine seconds before lift-off, the rocket's five enginesignited, sending a sheet of flame over the launch pad and about 20 acres of the surrounding marshland.

Then with an immense roar, the booster rocket took off into the sky, taking Apollo 11 and the hopes of the world with it.

Intensive training

It is the first time human beings have attempted to land on another heavenly body.

Almost 12 minutes later, Apollo 11 went into orbit around the Earth.

On board are three astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. All have already flown in space during the Gemini manned space missions, and have been intensively training as a team for many months.

They carry with them goodwill messages from the heads of the member states of the United Nations and their flags.

Two hours and 44 minutes after take-off, the engine of the third-stage booster was fired for five minutes and 47 seconds, and the speed increased to 24,545mph (39.500 km/h) to take the astronauts out of orbit and shoot them off to the Moon.

Neil Armstrong, the flight's commander, reported: "We have no complaint with any of the three stages on that ride. It was beautiful."

'New era'

The launch was watched by US Vice-President Spiro Agnew, who said it marked a "new era of civilisation".

"With the lift-off of Apollo 11, America enters a new age of discovery," he said.

Apollo 11 is scheduled to touch down on the Moon on Sunday 20 July if all goes well.

Speaking at a news conference before the launch, Neil Armstrong said the landing on the Moon and the take-off from it were "the big unknowns".

The lunar module, known as Eagle, is scheduled to land on the Moon at 2100 BST (2000 GMT).

Lord King looks forward to creating a world-class airline

One time rivals British Caledonian (BCal) and British Airways (BA) have agreed a deal worth ?37m.

Many smaller companies and opposition MPs believe that this - the biggest shake-up in the airline industry for 20 years - should be referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.

BA chairman Lord King described the planned merger as "an unrepeatable opportunity to create a British airline to take on the world."

Together the companies would control 70% of the UK flight market with a combined annual turnover of nearly ?bn and 46,000 staff.

Both organisations are confident that there would be no need for compulsory redundancies.

The British Caledonian Board - under the chairmanship of Adam Thomson - has already approved the merger and 40% of BCal shares have been pledged to BA.

BA shares rose by 10p to 170p as soon as the plans were announced.

British Aerospace would benefit as BA would pledge their ?bn budget for new aircraft to the airbuses currently used exclusively by BCal.

In parliament government trade spokesperson Kenneth Clarke told MPs he knew about the proposal a week ago.

Mr Clarke said the Director General of The Office of Fair Trading, Sir Gordon Borrie, would examine the case and report back to trade secretary Lord Young in the next few weeks.

Last year BCal reported losses of ?5m following the disappearance of ?m of South American business after the Falklands War and when the US bombing of Tripoli last year closed off the lucrative route to Libya.

Founded as a charter airline in 1961, BCal expanded in 1970 when it merged with British United Airways.

The two airlines currently share 13 destinations, but BCal would provide BA with access to 20 new routes and dominance at Gatwick as well as Heathrow airport.

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