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 The shortfall comes despite a 10-fold increase in NASA’s annual
budget over the past five years – from $4 million in 2009 to $40
million in 2014 - to track and assess potentially dangerous
asteroids and comets. So-called “Near-Earth Objects,” or NEOs, fly
within about 28 million miles (45 million km) of Earth.
The agency’s efforts are poorly coordinated, ill-managed and
under-staffed, according to a 32-page report titled “NASA’s Efforts
to Identify Near-Earth Objects and Mitigate Hazards,” by NASA
Inspector General Paul Martin.
“NASA estimates that it has identified only about 10 percent of all
asteroids 140 meters and larger,” Martin wrote. “Given its current
pace and resources, (NASA) has stated that it will not meet the goal
of identifying 90 percent of such objects by 2020.”
A one-person office manages a “loosely structured conglomerate of
research activities that are not well integrated and (which) lack
overarching program oversight, objectives and established milestones
to track progress,” the report said.
 NASA has found about 95 percent of the largest and potentially most
destructive asteroids, those measuring about 0.62 mile (1 km) or
larger in diameter.
About 66 million years ago, a 6.2-mile (10-km) -wide object hit what
is now Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, triggering global climate changes
that are believed to have led to the demise of the dinosaurs and
most other species alive at that time.
More recently, a fragment of an asteroid estimated to be just 59
feet (18 meters) in diameter exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia. The
force of the Feb. 15, 2013, explosion matched the energy released in
30 atomic bombs, blowing out windows and destroying buildings. More
than 1,000 people were injured by flying debris.
“Recent research suggests that Chelyabinsk-type events occur every
30 to 40 years,” the Office of Inspector General report said, adding
that most impacts would occur in the ocean rather than in populated
areas.
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Since 1998, NASA has spent about $100 million on programs to find,
assess and mitigate potentially threatening space neighbors.
As of July 2014, the agency has discovered about 11,230 NEOs,
including 862 of the largest asteroids. That figure includes only
about 10 percent of the smaller nearby asteroids that are about 460
feet (140 meters) wide, far short of the agency’s goal to find 90
percent by 2020, the report said.
The report made five recommendations for beefing up NASA’s asteroid
detection efforts, including adding at least four to six employees
to help manage the program and coordinating projects with other U.S.
and international agencies and with privately funded initiatives.
NASA’s Associate Administrator for Science John Grunsfeld said in a
letter to Martin he expects a new NEO program to be in place by
Sept. 1, 2015.
(Editing by David Adams and Eric Walsh)
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