PARIS European scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have made critical measurements of primordial helium in deep space, providing important new evidence for the Big Bang theory of the universe's creation. The new helium calculations also help boost the total amount of observable mass in the cosmos.

WASHINGTON The U.S. Army's corps-level air defense weapon program has been reconfigured as a combined U.S./European project to offer small-area, point defense against stealthy cruise missiles and theater ballistic weapons by 2005.

PARIS Production go-ahead for the NH-90 ASW-transport helicopter will slip to late 1997, a delay tied to the program's slow start. The first prototype, now in final assembly, is scheduled to fly in December. Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands plan to acquire 726 NH-90 helicopters that will enter service during the next decade.

WASHINGTON NASA has produced a new space flight manifest that reworks its shuttle plans for seven missions per year, instead of eight. But the schedule also includes a very active period coming soon for payloads on expendable launch vehicles (ELVs).

WASHINGTON After more than a year of internal bureaucratic debate, the Clinton Administration has finally approved an export control policy that would bolster the level of government support for U.S. companies selling weapons abroad.