NASA's inspector general said the space agency has failed to deliver its congressionally-mandated mission to locate 90 percent of potentially dangerous asteroids entering Earth's orbit.

Inspector General Paul Martin criticized NASA's Near Earth Object Program, deeming it badly managed and lacking in staff.

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His report states that NASA's asteroid hunting program has only found 10 percent of asteroids that fit the criteria of being dangerous. This means a dangerous space object must have a diameter of 140 meters and fly close to Earth's orbit at about 45 million kilometers.

NASA's asteroid hunting program's goal is to find 90 percent of these space objects. The inspector general, however, predicts the program will not be successful when it hits its 2020 deadline.

Although most objects that fly through the Earth's atmosphere are destroyed by friction on entry, a small asteroid such as the one that exploded over Chelyabinsk in Southern Russia last year illustrates the deadly potential of large space objects.

The Chelyabinsk asteroid exploded in mid-air with a force equivalent to 30 atomic bombs. More than 1,000 Russians were injured by the freak incident.

The inspector general said this kind of event occurs every 30 to 40 years. Most meteorites, however, strike the ocean. Only very few hit densely populated areas.

NASA has already spent over US$100 million to fund programs that hunt and seek to destroy these potentially threatening space objects.

In conclusion, the report unveiled five recommendations to enhance and improve the asteroid defense program. It said that adding four to six more employees could help manage the project better in terms of logistics and coordination with other international agencies.

A new Near Earth Object program will be implemented by September 1, 2015.

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