Today in History-July 16
The spectacular view from Apollo 11 just after leaving Earth orbit1969: Apollo 11 takes off for the Moon
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
1987: Great British airline ready for take off
Artificially 1969:
The The two biggest airlines in the UK are to merge and create a carrier to
compete with America's giant air corporations.
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.
Vocabulary:
ignite:To set fire to(点火)
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