Moon

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Moon
General information
Location	High Earth orbit, Solar System
Era(s)	Black Mesa Incident Seven Hour War Combine occupation of Earth
Game information
Map(s)	sp_a4_finale4 (Portal 2) c2a2g (Half-Life) c2a2h (Half-Life) d1_eli_02 (Half-Life 2) background03 (Half-Life 2) d1_town_01 ~ d1_town_03 (Half-Life 2)

 

"Take one last look at your precious human moon. Because it cannot help you now!"

― Wheatley

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite, and the setting of the final sequence of Portal 2. It is also the last known location of Wheatley.

In the Half-Life and Portal universe, the Moon first appears in Half-Life above the High Altitude Launch Center, and then in Half-Life: Decay, above the Gamma Labs. It is seen again above Ravenholm in Half-Life 2, and in the Half-Life 2: Deathmatch map Resistance, until it gets an actual role in Portal 2.

History

The surface of the Moon seen with an Apollo landing site with Earth in the background.

In 1979, Cave Johnson, CEO of Aperture Science, managed to acquire roughly $70 million worth of Moon rock. Upon grinding it up and mixing it into gel, he discovered that it made a great portal conductor, and also that ground Moon rock was "pure poison." He then put it to use in testing, under the name Conversion Gel. Cave Johnson eventually passed away from 'moonrock poisoning.'

An undefined amount of time later, after Wheatley had taken over the Enrichment Center and allowed it to fall into serious disrepair, part of the ceiling collapsed from the Central AI Chamber during his final confrontation with Chell. This allowed the Moon to be viewed through the opening made. Chell took advantage of this, and the Moon's portal conducive properties, and shot a portal at the moon. This caused both herself and Wheatley to be sucked into the near-total vacuum of the Moon's atmosphere. Chell was returned to Earth when GLaDOS, newly restored to power, pulled her back in through the portal. However, Wheatley was left to drift through space indefinitely, along with a corrupt Personality Core.

Related Achievements

Portal 2
	Lunacy (20G)
	That just happened.

Trivia

Concept art for the Moon's surface.

• The Moon has gravity approximately 1/6 of Earth's gravity, meaning that an object on its surface would remain on the surface unless acted upon, but the force needed is much less than that of Earth. Due to the bi-directional teleportation nature of the portal Chell launched to the Moon, Wheatley and Chell were both blown away from the surface by the negative pressure vacuum resulting.
• Chell always fires a blue portal at the surface, regardless of what portal one tries to fire.
• The Earth looks similar to what our Earth looks like today, despite the draining of the world's oceans by the Combine as seen in Half-Life 2. In the credits the photo of the Earth is credited to NASA.
• According to an interview with Erik Wolpaw in the Portal 2 Official Guide, they were originally going to place signs in old Aperture that read things such as "The Moon is not your friend." They were even going to put skeletons on the Moon during the ending sequence. This was cut with Wolpaw calling it "A good gag that didn't make it in." This connects with Cave Johnson's recording where he says Aperture Science was called to a congressional hearing on "missing astronauts".
• Doug Rattmann has an extreme obsession with the Moon, as it is seen in all of his drawings and murals. He also states in Portal: Lab Rat that he would have rather have gone to the Moon than help build GLaDOS. The Moon is often referenced in the game as well, including an image hidden in his final transmission showing a companion cube on the Moon. It is unknown if this is foreshadowing, or the Moon serves a greater purpose.
• In the VRtechnology demo Moondust, the player plays a giant Aperture Science robot sent to the Moon in a rocket. At that moment, Aperture's moondust-based Conversion Gel stores are running dangerously low, making the company look to the stars for a new source of the valuable portal conductor, thus launching the Aperture Lunar Resources Initiative.

Gallery

• 

  The moon from near Black Mesa's High Altitude Launch Center in Half-Life.

• 

  The moon above the Gamma Labs in Half-Life: Decay, where the Half-Life skybox is used.

• 

  The moon from Ravenholm in Half-Life 2.

• 

  The moon from the map Resistance in Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, where the Half-Life 2 skybox is used.

• 

  Model of the US flag as seen on the Moon at the Apollo landing site.

• 

  Model of the descent stage of the Apollo Lunar Module.

• 

  Model of the Lunar Roving Vehicle.

• 

  Model of one of the Moon rocks.

• 

  SSTV signal image, which can be found when Radio reaches Doug Rattmann's den in Test Chamber 06, from Portal 2.

• 

  The Aperture Lunar Resources Initiative station on the Moon, in the Steam hero image for Moondust.

• 

  The Aperture Science rocket reaching the moon in Moondust.

• 

  Wheatley orbiting the moon in Moondust.

List of appearances

Main games

• Half-Life (First appearance)
• Half-Life: Decay
• Half-Life 2
• Portal 2
• Half-Life: Alyx

Other

• Half-Life 2: Deathmatch (Non-canonical appearance)
• Moondust (Non-canonical appearance)

References

Preceded by Central AI Chamber (3)

Portal 2 journey (4)

Succeeded by Central AI Chamber (4)