Reading the moon's buried past

The lunar south pole looks chaotic from orbit. Craters heaped upon craters, ancient basins, scarps and slopes tumbling in every direction, it is without doubt, one of the most geologically complicated terrains in the inner solar system. That aside, it's exactly where we intend to send people, since understanding what lies beneath that battered surface isn't just scientific curiosity. It's the essential groundwork for everything that follows.