This could be a serious problem. The shield protected the spacecraft from burning up from the extreme heat of re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

VOA: special.2009.06.17

(..) One woman in Warsaw explains that she was happy the shield was canceled because she does not think Poland needs to be defended from anyone,even Russia.

VOA: standard.2009.10.21

Nicholas Lardy, an economist and senior fellow at the Washington-based Peterson Institute, says China's unwillingness to adopt derivative loans and other high-risk financial products helped to shield it from the impact of the world economic downturn.

VOA: standard.2009.11.10