Electrovaya has won a NASA contract that should mean that shuttle astronauts will be using its batteries.

We even offered to guarantee the NASA contracts.

Since then, it has received NASA contracts totaling $16.8 billion.

Some of the Space Services employees are still coming to work, though without pay, to prepare a bid for yet another NASA contract.

"You needed the NASA contracts," said the President.

"When questioned privately, you said you'd been approached by outside interests who implied that their assistance might be necessary to obtain the NASA contracts."

After that, profit margins allowed by the NASA contract could again rise as high as 15 percent on a pretax basis.

And it limited the loan to five years, the length of the NASA contract and well short of typical project lending.

Its stock, which had traded at $3.625 before the NASA contract was announced, has since slumped.

Connecticut ranks number 15 over all in terms of NASA contracts for education and research.