Scientists who study near-Earth objects say the collision risk is very real.
Astronomers use astrometric techniques for the tracking of near-Earth objects.
Cometary fragmenting may also be responsible for some impacts from near-Earth objects.
Of all the recorded near-Earth objects to date, none would have received a score greater than 1.
He said Britain ought to increase its involvement in international cooperation on near-Earth objects.
The Institute's orbit@home is a distributed computing project through which the public can help in the search for near-Earth objects.
"We've really begun now the in-depth reconnaissance of so-called near-Earth objects," he said.
The scientific goals of both surveys range from the nature of dark energy to assessing near-Earth objects.
A single metallic-type near-Earth object would be worth, conservatively, trillions in today's market.
The correlation between mas extinctions and impacts of near-Earth objects.