Robert Scott. Portrait of Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912), British explorer. During 1900-04 Scott commanded an expedition to explore the Ross Sea area of Antarctica. This expedition collected valuable scientific information and reached a latitude of 81 degrees 17 minutes south, a new record. In 1910 he returned in an attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole. With 4 compan- ions he walked 2964 kilometres (km) to the Pole, arriving on 18 January 1912, but found that Amundsen had been there 5 weeks earlier. On the return journey Scott and his companions died just 18 km from a supply depot. Their frozen bodies were found by a search party 8 months later.