A meteorite will hit Earth in the near future, a Nasa chief has warned.
Jim Bridenstine, an administrator for Nasa, said: "I wish I could tell you these events are exceptionally unique … but they’re not."
Speaking at the International Academy of Astronautics’ Planetary Defence Conference in Maryland, US, on Monday, he stressed the importance of protecting our planet from the devastation a meteorite could wreck.
"What we’re doing is very serious.
"We have to make sure that people understand that this is not about Hollywood, it’s not about movies," the expert added.
In 2013, a meteor about 65 feet across entered the Earth’s atmosphere over Russia.
Dubbed the Chelyabinsk Event, the blast the meteor created injured more than 1,500 people, and damaged over 7,000 buildings.
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Meteor events of that size happen once every 60 years but Mr Bridenstine fears this could happen again in our lifetime.
There have been three such incidents over the last 100 years, he claimed.
He continued: "We have to use our systems, use our capabilities to ultimately get a lot more data.
"We know for a fact that the dinosaurs did not have a space programme. But we do, and we need to use it."
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Independent reports Nasa has been directed by the US government to detect and track 90 per cent of near-Earth objects 460 feet or larger.
Nasa’s Space Launch System is to be used for the next manned mission to the Moon in 2024.
The project will see the agency build its most powerful rocket yet.
