Alexander Kumar, a physician and researcher at Concordia
Station, writes from Antarctica, where he conducts scientific
experiments for the European Space Agency’s human spaceflight
program. Monday, Aug. 20 On Jan. 17, 1912, Robert Falcon Scott’s
team arrived at the South Pole defeated and exhausted, finding
they had been beaten to it by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen.
Scott wrote, “The Pole. Yes, but under very different
circumstances from those expected,” followed by, “Great God,
this is an awful place.” While Amundsen or one of his sled dogs
may have been the first to visit the South Pole, his team left
behind only a legacy in exploration. But Scott’s team, with its
British scientific leader and expedition doctor, Edward Wilson,
also blazed a trail in Antarctic science — a legacy that still
burns bright today. In fact, besides completing the Worst
Journey in the World, Wilson had hauled a multitude of
geological samples to what became his final resting place, never
giving up to death. The final three members