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Christopher McKinnis

Professor Julie Hicks

Arts and Society: Film

3 November 2015

Moon Response

Everyone has wondered about life outside our current realm on Earth. Outer space has so

many mysteries that have not been solved yet, and as time has progressed, the curiosities about

the possibilities that space has to offer. Duncan Jones’ Moon takes our closest celestial neighbor,

the moon, and questions the possibilities of taking its resources and utilizing them in a positive

way. Thanks to scientific research, the possibility of taking raw materials and converting that to

a clean alternative for an energy source has been discussed through not only talk amongst the

science community, but also throughout the movie. In addition to the utilization of raw materials

for energy, the compressing debate concerning cloning is also addressed in Moon, and provides

some interesting insight in how cloning is viewed and leaves the audience questioning our

morality and ethics.

As mentioned, Moon explores the possibility of extracting a raw material from the sur-

face and depths of the moon as a potential energy source: helium-3. Helium-3 is the light, non-

radioactive isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron (common helium possesses two

neutrons). Although it is scarce on Earth, its abundance on the moon has grabbed the attention

of many scientists. However, although such an abundance would be excruciatingly helpful to-

wards our energy crisis and the fight towards cleaner and smarter energy sources, there are still

many issues that still linger that hinder scientists from unlocking the true potential of helium-3.

One of the biggest issues that still poses as a daunting challenge is designing and engineering a

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spacecraft that can carry the hardware and crew to the lunar surface. To be able to transport so

much weight that far of a distance is a complicated process. This may be resolved through the

usage of the Apollo Saturn V spacecraft, which the remains as the benchmark to be a reliable,

heavy-life moon rocket. However, with how quickly our technology is advancing, a more effi-

cient alternative of a spacecraft may be devised as time progresses. Another big issue concern-

ing helium-3 is trying to harness the incredible power of hydrogen fusion to be able to generate

electricity. The roadblock in this is achieving temperatures high enough to be able to maintain a

fusion reaction. Currently, all the materials that are known to exist meat at these surface-of-the-

sun temperatures; consequently, a magnetic containment field is required for the reaction take

place in. To begin with, scientists believed that they could achieve fusion using an isotope of hy-

drogen, deuterium, which is found in seawater. After investigation, they discovered that sustain-

ing temperatures and pressures need to maintain this fusion reaction for a long period of time ex-

ceeded the limits of the magnetic containment technology. Although there is complication, sub-

stituting helium-3 for tritium allows electrostatic confinement usage instead of using magnets. In

addition, this would greatly reduce the complexity of fusion reactors and helps towards our pol-

lution crisis by eradicating high-level radioactive waste production. Another problem that still

lingers is the costs that are involved in not only in the production of energy from helium-3, but

also those in markets. Helium-3 is very low-concentrated, so in order to utilize the power that

helium-3 possesses, a large amount of rock of soil would have to be obtained to be able to isolate

enough material to be able to utilize it efficiently. In fact, “digging a patch of lunar surface

roughly three-quarters of a square mile to a depth of about 9 feet should yield about 220 pounds

of helium-3 enough to power a city the size of Dallas or Detroit for a year”; ideally, with he-

lium-3 projected to cost approximately $40,000 per ounce, this amount of helium-3 would be

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worth about $141 million. Although the small amount of helium-3 may seem like a worthy in-

vestment, there are still costs that pose issues financially. With the cost that are involved with

fusion and reactor development, rocket development, and starting lunar operations, this is a ma-

jor project that requires a lot of work and investment (“Mining”). In addition, the huge captital

expenditures just to set a mining base camp is also going to be a speculative topic when dis-

cussing the plans of mining on the moon (Oulette).

Moon does a great job on tackling the debate on moon mining; in addition, it handles a

very important moral battle with a rising technological advancement that could ultimately sur-

face even more so as time and technology progress: cloning. For the longest time, cloning has

been on the table for discussion about whether it is morally and ethically acceptable enough to

allow people have performed if they desire. However, in this movie, we see how that there’s

technology has progressed enough to be able to clone Sam Bell numerous times. This raises

many issues for me, and probably for all of those who have seen this movie: where is the divide

between what’s morally and ethically acceptable in regards to cloning humans? I feel that such a

technology isn’t something that should be abused. This is something that ultimately alters hu-

man nature, because with clones, what really is a human? Another thing that I found to be

equally interesting and disturbing was the concept of “mass production” of a person to be able to

continue the space project of mining for helium-3. The scene when the two clones discover the

secret chamber with all of the clones really bothered me. What if this is what becomes of us in

the real world? Humans shouldn’t be copied merely for selfish reasons. There should be a

morally-correct purpose behind cloning somebody. For me, cloning serves as the perfect oppor-

tunity to clone organs for those who need a organ transplant, or something similar to that idea.

In addition, along with the debate with cloning, there is a hidden debate about free will versus

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determinism. This biological “brainwashing” has each clone believing that they are the original,

and that each of their paths are determined already by the program: once they die, they are re-

placed with another one. However, the two main clones in the movie somewhat challenge this

premise through their discoveries of what’s going on with the cloning, and allows the audience to

either accept the premises and arguments that are presented, or challenge them and provide dif-

ferent arguments against the issues brought up in Moon.

By far, this is my favorite movie that I have seen this semester. There may be some bias

in that, however. I am a huge science-fiction movie fanatic, especially when it comes to natural

disasters or disastrous situations, such as 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, Twister, and Into the

Storm. However, Moon provides an interesting glimpse into the claustrophobic and lonely life of

space exploration, as well as presents a world where both cloning and highly exploitative imper-

sonal labor practices have become commonplace. In addition to the issue with cloning, Moon

also explores the concept of moon mining, paralleling its relevance to our society in the quest for

cleaner energy alternatives. Overall, I found this film to be exhilarating, suspenseful, and down-

right entertaining, and with the emphasis on morality, ethics, and the conflict between free will

and determinism, the audience get a full package of engaging action, humor, and intense emo-

tional and psychological manipulation.

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Works Cited

"Mining From The Moon." Popular Mechanics. Hearst Communications, Inc., 07 Dec. 2004. Web. 01 Nov. 2015.

Oulette, Jennifer. "This Moon Was Made for Mining (Helium-3) : DNews." DNews. Discovery Communications, LLC, 21 Feb. 2011. Web. 01 Nov. 2015.