WASHINGTON, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The White House on Wednesday released a report outlining its preparedness for asteroids and comets whose orbits come within about 48 million kilometers of Earth.
The report was written by the National Science and Technology Council under the White House to "address the hazard of near-Earth object (NEO) impacts" over the next 10 years, though no known NEOs currently pose significant risks of impact.
The United States should be prepared to "act independently through all phases that may occur during an impact scenario" to protect and preserve America's interests, despite the current international cooperation, according to the report.
The report said the country's ability to assess the overall risks of NEO impacts improved with more detection and better characterization of the total NEO population, but current observational capabilities were suited to only finding less than half of all 140-meter objects by 2033.
Larger NEOs greater than 140 meters have the potential to inflict severe damage to entire regions or continents, according to the report.
The U.S. space agency NASA and its partners have catalogued about one third of the estimated 25,000 near-Earth asteroids that are at least 140 meters.
The report set up goals such as improving NEO detection, developing technology of deflection and disruption missions, and increasing international cooperation.
It called for developing technologies and designs for rapid-response NEO reconnaissance missions and for NEO deflection and disruption missions.