Feb 16, 1989 Jonathan's Space Report (3) Sorry it's late... The first US space launch of the year came on Valentine's Day. The first USAF Block II Navstar satellite soared into space on board the first launch of a Delta II rocket. The fleet of Navstar Global Positioning Satellites, when operational, will allow both military and civilian users to determine their exact position to within a hundred metres anywhere in the world. The satellites carry an accurate atomic clock whose rate is corrected for the gravitational redshift predicted by General Relativity to occur between the satellite altitude of 20000 km and the ground. The Delta II is a new USAF rocket and is an improved version of NASA's Delta which has launched nearly 200 satellites over 30 years. Preparations continue for the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-29, during the week of March 13. Any further delays are likely to result in cancellation of the mission to make way for the STS-30 mission. Soviet cosmonauts Volkov, Krikalyov, and Polyakov continue their tour of duty on board the Mir space station. Last week the robot cargo freighter Progress-39 was undocked from Mir, loaded with refuse and surplus equipment. It was made to reenter over the Pacific Ocean and was destroyed. A new robot freighter will be launched soon, carrying food, air, and fuel supplies for the station. Other events: Confirm landing of spy satellite Kosmos-1991 on Feb 1.