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Difference between revisions of "Robert Falcon Scott"
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[[File:Antarctic expedition map.png|thumb|350px|Routes used by Amundsen and Scott]] | [[File:Antarctic expedition map.png|thumb|350px|Routes used by Amundsen and Scott]] | ||
===Preparation=== | ===Preparation=== | ||
It was the expressed hope of the RGS that this expedition would be "scientific primarily, with exploration and the Pole as secondary objects" | It was the expressed hope of the RGS that this expedition would be "scientific primarily, with exploration and the Pole as secondary objects" but, unlike the Discovery Expedition, neither they nor the Royal Society were in charge this time. In his expedition prospectus, Scott stated that its main objective was "to reach the South Pole, and to secure for the British Empire the honor of this achievement." Scott had, as Markham observed, been "bitten by the Pole mania." | ||
In a memorandum of 1908, Scott presented his view that man-hauling to the South Pole was impossible and that motor traction was needed. Snow vehicles did not yet exist however, and so his engineer Reginald Skelton developed the idea of a caterpillar track for snow surfaces. In the middle of 1909 Scott realized that motors were unlikely to get him all the way to the Pole, and decided additionally to take horses (based on Shackleton's near success in attaining the Pole, using ponies), and dogs and skis after consultation with Nansen during trials of the motors in Norway in March 1910.Man-hauling would still be needed on the Polar Plateau, on the assumption that motors and animals could not ascend the [[crevasse]]d [[Beardmore Glacier]]. | In a memorandum of 1908, Scott presented his view that man-hauling to the South Pole was impossible and that motor traction was needed. Snow vehicles did not yet exist however, and so his engineer Reginald Skelton developed the idea of a caterpillar track for snow surfaces. In the middle of 1909 Scott realized that motors were unlikely to get him all the way to the Pole, and decided additionally to take horses (based on Shackleton's near success in attaining the Pole, using ponies), and dogs and skis after consultation with Nansen during trials of the motors in Norway in March 1910.Man-hauling would still be needed on the Polar Plateau, on the assumption that motors and animals could not ascend the [[crevasse]]d [[Beardmore Glacier]]. | ||