Editing Robert Falcon Scott (section)

=== Preparation ===
[[File:Antarctic expedition map (Amundsen - Scott)-en.svg|thumb|alt=|Scott's and Amundsen's routes to the South Pole]]
Shackleton returned from the Antarctic having narrowly failed to reach the Pole and this gave Scott the impetus to proceed with plans for his second Antarctic expedition.{{sfn|Preston|1999|pp=100–101}} On 24 March 1909, he took the Admiralty-based appointment of naval assistant to the [[Second Sea Lord]], which placed him conveniently in London. In December, he was released on half-pay to take up the full-time command of the British Antarctic Expedition 1910, to be known as the [[Terra Nova Expedition|''Terra Nova'' expedition]] from its ship, {{ship||Terra Nova|ship|2}}.{{sfn|Fiennes|2003|p=161}}

It was the expressed hope of the RGS that this expedition would be "scientific primarily, with exploration and the Pole as secondary objects"{{sfn|Crane|2005|pp=397–399}} but, unlike the [[Discovery Expedition|''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 honour of this achievement".{{sfn|Crane|2005|pp=397–399}} Scott had, as Markham observed, been "bitten by the Pole mania".{{sfn|Crane|2005|pp=397–399}}

In a memorandum of 1908, Scott presented his view that man-hauling to the South Pole was impossible and that motor traction was needed.<ref>RF Scott (1908) ''The Sledging Problem in the Antarctic, Men versus Motors''</ref> Snow vehicles did not yet exist however and so his engineer [[Reginald Skelton]] developed the idea of a caterpillar track for snow surfaces.<ref>Roland Huntford (2003) ''Scott and Amundsen. Their Race to the South Pole. The Last Place on Earth.'' Abacus, London, p. 224.</ref> In the middle of 1909, Scott realised 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),{{sfn|Preston|1999|p=107}}{{sfn|Crane|2005|pp=432–433}} dogs and skis, after consultation with Nansen during trials of the motors in Norway in March 1910.<ref>Roland Huntford (2003) ''Scott and Amundsen. Their Race to the South Pole. The Last Place on Earth.'' Abacus, London, p. 262.</ref> Man-hauling would still be needed on the Polar Plateau, on the assumption that motors and animals could not ascend the crevassed [[Beardmore Glacier]].

Dog expert [[Cecil Meares]] was going to [[Siberia]] to select the dogs and Scott ordered that, while he was there, he should deal with the purchase of Manchurian ponies. Meares was not an experienced horse-dealer and the ponies he chose proved mostly of poor quality and ill-suited to prolonged Antarctic work.{{sfn|Preston|1999|p=113}} Meanwhile, Scott also recruited Bernard Day, from Shackleton's expedition, as his motor expert.{{sfn|Preston|1999|p=112}}