Reuters Science News Summary

Following is a summary of current science news briefs. India shoots down satellite in test, Modi hails arrival as space power

India shot down one of its satellites in space with an anti-satellite missile on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, hailing the country's first test of such technology as a major breakthrough that establishes it as a space power. India would only be the fourth country to have used such an anti-satellite weapon after the United States, Russia and China, said Modi, who heads into general elections next month. Trump administration calls for putting Americans back on moon by 2024

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced on Tuesday an accelerated goal of putting Americans back on the moon within five years "by any means necessary," and NASA's top official immediately embraced the challenge. Pence, chairing a meeting of the National Space Council at NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, borrowed from the vocabulary of the Cold War era in declaring, "We're in a space race today, just as we were in the 1960s." Key U.S. lawmaker objects to Trump 'Space Force' plan

The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee strongly criticized President Donald Trump's plans for a new "Space Force" on Monday, setting the stage for a battle over one of Trump's favorite initiatives. Trump signed a directive in February to start the process of creating a new branch of the military dedicated to handling threats in space, which has become an applause line at the Republican president's campaign rallies. Legislation to create the branch requires congressional approval.