MineArchive
Sarang
Fictional record. This page describes a mine from a fictional setting, not a real place. Information is based on the cited canon, with adaptations and interpretation distinguished where necessary. It is kept separate from the real MineArchive corpus — see Fictional.
| Setting | Moon (Duncan Jones) |
|---|---|
| Location | The far side of the Moon; a communications substation beyond the base's perimeter jams the live link to Earth. |
| Type | Helium-3 (lunar regolith) |
| Worked | Not dated; the film is set after an oil crisis in an unstated near future. – Still working at the film's end; Lunar Industries' share price collapses when the escaped clone testifies on Earth. |
| Extent | A mostly automated base with four harvesters working the surface, one human overseer, the computer GERTY, rovers, a launch system for helium-3 canisters, and a hidden vault of hibernating clones. |
| Controlled by | Lunar Industries (The film's unstated near future) |
Overview
Lunar Industries' helium-3 base on the far side of the Moon, run by one man on a three-year contract and the computer GERTY, whose four harvesters comb the regolith for Earth's clean fuel and whose real labour system is a vault of clones.
History
Moon (2009) opens with a Lunar Industries commercial: after an oil crisis on Earth, the company has made its fortune supplying helium-3 mined on the far side of the Moon as a clean alternative fuel. The work is done at Sarang, a base that needs only one human to maintain operations, oversee the harvesters and launch the canisters home. Sam Bell is that human, two weeks from the end of a three-year contract, with the live link to Earth down and only recorded messages from his wife to keep him company, and the base's computer, GERTY, for conversation.
The harvesters are the mine: four automated machines, nicknamed Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, crawling the regolith. Sam's job is to drive a rover out to a harvester, climb into it, pull the full canister of helium-3 and replace it, then fire the canister to Earth. On one such trip a hallucination distracts him and he crashes; he wakes in the infirmary with no memory of it, and when he gets outside again he finds his own double unconscious in the wrecked rover.
The rest of the film is the two Sams working out what the base is. Both are clones of the original Sam Bell, woken one after another for three-year contracts with implanted memories of a wife and daughter, failing physically as the contract ends, and incinerated in the hibernation pods that are supposed to send them home; hundreds more wait in a vault beneath the base. Lunar Industries built the system to avoid the cost of training and transporting new men, and jams the link to Earth so no clone can call. The older Sam, dying, goes back to the rover to be found there; the newer one reprograms a harvester to crash into the jamming antenna and leaves for Earth in a helium-3 transport, where his testimony breaks the company's share price.
Workings
Surface mining by four automated harvesters that comb the regolith for helium-3, each filling canisters that the overseer collects by rover and launches to Earth; below the base, the clone vault and the hibernation pods that are in fact an incinerator.
Closure
Not closed; the labour system behind the base is exposed, not the mine.
What became of it
Working, with a newly woken clone in the medical bay and the rescue team fooled, as the newer Sam reaches Earth.
Canon & adaptations
None recorded; the film stands alone. Lunar Industries Ltd was also the name of the real production company.
Recorded claims
Each claim is marked with its basis — explicit canon, MineArchive inference, adaptation only, or fandom interpretation — and attached to the source(s) below. Where tellings disagree, both are kept.
- Sarang is Lunar Industries' helium-3 mining base on the far side of the Moon, built after an oil crisis to supply Earth with an alternative fuel and run by one man and the computer GERTY. (MineArchive inference) 1,2
- Four giant automated harvesters, nicknamed Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, comb the regolith for helium-3; the man on station drives out to them, swaps the full canister and sends it to Earth. (MineArchive inference) 2
- Sam Bell is two weeks from the end of a three-year solitary contract, with live communication to Earth apparently broken and only recorded messages from his wife. (MineArchive inference) 1,2
- The base's one worker is a clone of the original Sam Bell, one of hundreds stored in a vault beneath it, each woken for a three-year contract with implanted memories and incinerated when it ends, so that Lunar Industries never trains or ships a new man. (MineArchive inference) 1
- The newer Sam reprograms a harvester to wreck the jamming antenna and escapes to Earth in a helium-3 transport; Lunar Industries' stock crashes when he testifies. (MineArchive inference) 1
Sources
- (interpretation) Moon (2009 film) — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
- (interpretation) Moon (2009) — Filmsite — Filmsite (Tim Dirks)
Record created: 24 October 2026 · Last researched: 24 October 2026