Dr Grant first tried to overcome this with a point-and-shoot system, in which he brought the analyser to the plastic instead.

ECONOMIST: Recycling

It can be achieved most rapidly, most efficiently and most affordably from the sea, by adapting the Navy's AEGIS fleet air defense system to shoot down ballistic missiles.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

One Pentagon official said that since early January, a team including 200 industry experts and scientists had worked furiously to modify the Aegis air-defense missile system so it could shoot down the satellite.

CNN: Navy missile hits dying spy satellite, says Pentagon