CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday called for landing astronauts on the moon within five years, an accelerated pace that would aim to put Americans on the lunar south pole.

Pence said NASA needs to achieve that goal "by any means necessary." Speaking at a meeting of the National Space Council in Huntsville, Alabama, he said NASA rockets and lunar landers will be replaced by private craft, if required.

"It's time to redouble our effort," he said. "It can happen, but it will not happen unless we increase the pace."

Now, the earliest possible landing on the moon by N...