Courtney Patterson

Julie Hicks
LBST 1102
3 November 2015
Moon Reflection
Moon, a 2009 film, directed by Duncan Jones, follows the journey of astronaut Sam Bell
as he spends three years in space harvesting helium-3. This film highlights several moral and
ethical issues such as human cloning and the power of artificial intelligence. Despite the small
budget used to make this film and Duncan Jones directing debut, the cinematography is
wonderful and watching the behind the scenes video made it clear that a lot of time was put into
making this film great. It brought to my attention the harvesting of helium-3; something I had
only briefly heard of and it raised many thought provoking questions about the direction that our
country is headed in regards to technology.
Helium-3 is a gas that could potentially be used as a source of energy on Earth,
eliminating the burning of all fossil fuels. There are not large enough quantities of this gas on
earth, however, large amounts of it are present on the surface of the moon. Harvesting it would
bring in millions of dollars for the United States and it would have the ability to improve our
environment. Despite these positives, there are several problems associated with this process, the
first being the fact that it will be costly. According to the article found in Popular Mechanics,
this project would cost approximately $15 billion; money that our country does not have right
now. Over the past few years, funding for space exploration has been depleting and with the state
of our countrys economy, things like this are not at the forefront of citizens minds. If there truly

is a vast supply of this helium on the moon, and it is worth just as much as researchers believe, it
may have the potential to pay itself off in the long run, but it is still a risk.
A large amount of this money would be used to create some sort of spacecraft to transport
the gas from the moon back to earth, but it is not just money that is the problem when it comes to
creating this form of transportation. It has been about forty years since Saturn V was created; the
only other spacecraft that has had similar capabilities as the one that will be needed for this
mission. It has to be large enough to carry both the astronauts and materials to and from space.
Although this has been done before and could easily be done again, it will probably take quite
awhile to build and if other countries, like China, are aware of the impact helium-3 could have
on this planet, time may be an issue. According to an article I read, written by John Hewitt,
China is well on their way to obtaining the first sample of this gas, which could potentially mean
that the United States is too late.
The third problem associated with the harvesting of helium-3 is the fact that the moon
does not belong to one specific country, we all have equal access to it. If one country gets access
to this gas first, many different issues could arise. It is possible that the country could claim
access to all of it and try to sell it to the rest of the countries and it is also possible that a second
space race could occur. Even more funding would need to be acquired in order to protect the
territory if any country feels the need to claim it as their own and there is always the possibility
that this exploration could cause a war to arise since so much money is involved. If countries
could work together, there would be many great discoveries made that would be able to benefit
the earth as a whole, however, the chances of this happening are slim.
Since most of the problems I addressed are related to money in some way, it is important
to note just how much this gas is worth. According to the article in Popular Mechanics, helium-3

is worth $40,000 per ounce, which means 220 pounds would be worth $141 million. This amount
is enough to power a decently sized city, similar to Charlotte, for an entire year. Knowing how
many cities are in this country alone, it would not take long to pay off the costs of the initial
exploration. If you add in the fact that the United States could possibly sell this gas to other
countries if they are able to retrieve it first, the process could be even more beneficial for us as a
whole. This also makes the exploration even more appealing to other countries, which makes it
crucial for this country to get astronauts and build useable spacecrafts in a timely manner.
In addition to learning about helium-3, I liked Moon because of the wonderful
cinematography and editing. It was not until we watched the behind the scenes video that I truly
understood just how much effort it took to have clones in a movie. It always seemed like such a
simple process, but knowing that the same scene has to be shot in the same exact manner
multiple times really puts things into perspective. Sam Rockwell was a phenomenal actor and the
way he carried himself towards the end of the film added to the plots emotional appeal. Dennis
Harvey critiqued this film by saying, Moon actually gets a little dull in the later reels, just when
it should be peaking in mystery and tension, however, I would have to disagree. Rockwells
performance is solid throughout the entire film and I was constantly wondering how things
would turn out for each Sam. Viewers begin to feel sorry for the first Sam because they know
how hard he had worked throughout his three years on the moon and how much he loved and
missed his family, but once he found out the truth, you could see the pain in every aspect of his
being. Although the situation may not be as serious in todays society, businesses do take
advantage of their workers and dehumanize them in order to make more money. Even though
this was an extreme example, it could be an insight into how things will be in the future.

This film also addressed the topic of artificial intelligence. For almost three years, Gerty
was the only interaction Sam had, but they seemed as if they had a pretty normal bond. Gerty
was able to do a lot for Sam and he was able to carry on a normal conversation, but this also
means that Gerty was able to do the same things with all of the previous Sams and he had
complete knowledge of what all was taking place. When the other Sam arrived, he realized Gerty
was able to have a live conversation with the company executives, however, none of the clones
were able to have live conversations. Their only contact with their families was through
prerecorded video messages which they were only able to view once. This is due to the fact that
the family members did not really exist, they were just another pawn in the companys game.
Gerty also had some sort of independence, because when Sam was trying to leave to return to
Earth, Gerty suggested that he reset the memory so no one would be able to know what
happened. Although he was on the companys side, he had an attachment to the Sams and he
wanted the best for them. Knowing that these forms of artificial intelligence are able to think on
their own in some ways raises the questions: will our reliance on artificial intelligence negatively
impact us in the future? At what point are we taking technology too far?
It was obvious that Gerty was doing a lot to help this very important expedition, but at the
same time cloning humans for the financial benefit of a company is not ethical. It is also
important to note that a lot of work done in space is done by machines and robots, instead of
humans. This is good because we still do not know as much as we could about the conditions of
the moon and we should not put human lives in danger. The importance of these technologically
advanced devices is obvious, but it is still unsure whether or not these things have the power to
destruct the human population. We can already see just how much individuals rely on things like
Google and Siri when they need a question answered and students are relying on computer

programs and websites to complete their homework. We are undermining our own abilities
because we are lazy and feel as if technology is just a convenient way out. Giving technology the
power to rule our lives diminishes our ability to think critically and use problem solving skills to
solve everyday situations; skills that are very important if a society wants to thrive.
I was researching different peoples views on artificial intelligence and I found a very
interesting Time article that contained the opinions of five highly respected individuals, all of
whom are credited for their intelligence and acknowledge the dangers of this type of technology.
The two that stood out to me were Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk. Hawking stated the
development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race, and Musk
stated artificial intelligence could be more dangerous than nuclear weapons. Both of these
individuals know just how important genuine intelligence is and they both made very powerful
statements regarding this topic. Although I believe improvements in technology and artificial
intelligence have the power to greatly benefit the human race when used properly, I have seen
the negative impacts of these things and I do think that we could become too reliant on them;
something that could bring an end to the human race. Knowing just how much technology can do
now, I can only imagine what all it will be able to do in the future.
To conclude, I really enjoyed Moon. Sam Rockwells performance and Duncan Jones
directing worked together to create a beautiful film that was not only thought provoking, but also
emotionally appealing. It drew viewers in and left them thinking about topics such as human
cloning and the power of artificial intelligence, even after the film had concluded. Despite the
small budget, everything came together in a way that was very similar to a big budget,
Hollywood film. Again, I have found another movie to add to my list of favorites and I was able
to learn a lot of interesting facts about the elements found on the moon.

Works Cited
Harvey, Dennis. (2009). Review; Moon. Variety. Retrieved November 2, 2015, from http://
variety.com/2009/film/markets-festivals/moon-1200473282/

Hewitt, John. China is going to mine the Moon for helium-3 fusion fuel. ExtremeTech.
ExtremeTech, 26 January 2015. Web. 2 November 2015.

Luckerson, Victor. 5 Very Smart People Who Think Artificial Intelligence Could Bring the
Apocalypse. Time. Time, 2 December 2014. Web. 2 November 2015.