I had to dig a long way back in my blog to find a mention of our trip to Antarctica. On the 17th of January 1773 Captain James Cook became the first to cross the Antarctic Circle, 66 degrees 33 minutes South. Sadly it was also on 17th January, but in 1779, that he made his last entry in Discovery’s logbook.
It was also on 17th January, but this time in 1912 that Captain Robert Scott and his expedition arrived at the South Pole, only to find that Roald Amundsen had beaten them to it by a month. Captain Robert Scott’s ill-fated expedition to Antarctica, known as the Terra Nova Expedition (1910-1913), aimed to be the first to reach the South Pole. Scott and his team set sail aboard the ship Terra Nova, facing extreme conditions and fierce competition from Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who was also racing to the Pole.
Scott’s journey was marked by meticulous planning and scientific research, but it was also fraught with challenges. The team faced harsh weather, inadequate supplies, and the limitations of their equipment. Despite these obstacles, Scott and his party reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912, only to discover that Amundsen had beaten them there by over a month.
The return journey proved disastrous. Scott and his men struggled against blizzards, exhaustion, and dwindling rations. One by one, team members succumbed to the harsh conditions. Scott, along with his remaining companions, ultimately perished in March 1912, just 11 miles from a supply depot that could have saved them.
Scott’s expedition is often viewed as a tragic tale of human ambition and resilience, highlighting both the allure and peril of exploration. Despite the tragedy, Scott’s legacy endures through his scientific contributions and the lessons learned about the limits of human endurance in the face of nature’s unforgiving challenges. His story remains a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made in the name of discovery.
It was the Roald Amundsen that Claire and I travelled to Antarctica. There were many lectures on board and we learnt that Scott’s expedition had had a purpose of scientific discovery, whereas Amundsen had simply been to be the first. It was on the flight to Chile, where we boarded the Roald Amundsen that I watched a film called Armstrong, a biopic about Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on the Moon. On 17th January 1962, Armstrong piloted an X-15 hypersonic research plane to 40,690 metres altitude, 133,497 feet. So 17th January is quite a day for exploration.