Why did Scott go to the South Pole?

Scott was an ambitious peacetime Naval officer. He had graduated in the top 25% of his class and advanced smoothly until he gained command of a torpedo boat at the rank of Lieutenant

After his ship ran aground he received a bad mark on his record even though he was not in control of the ship at the time. It was deemed to be bad judgement on his part to have left his 2nd in command in charge at that particular time.

5 years later he was serving as torpedo officer on a larger ship and 2nd chances were few and far between. When his father was financially ruined and then died it fell to Scott to provide for his mother and their family. He had already attracted the attention of Sir Clemence Markham, who was organizing an Antarctic Expedition as President of The Royal Geographical Society.

This was a chance for Scott to make a name for himself and advance his stagnating career. Sir Clemence fought to have him appointed as the Expedition leader ahead of any of the Scientists, as opposed to be merely in command of the ship. He was immediately promoted to commander and received a medal from King Edward VII even before the expedition left England.

While Scott's interest in Polar exploration may have initially been somewhat mercenary he quickly developed an obsession for the region and for the effort in reaching the South Pole. He appeared to revel in the challenge of man over the harshest extremes of nature and developed a rivalry with Ernest Shackleton over who would reach the South Pole first.

On his first expedition, Scott, Shackleton and Edward Wilson set off on a disastrous Southern journey for which they were woefully unprepared.

Shackleton returned to pave the way to the pole but turned back with a little over 100 miles to go, when it was clear that their supplies were inadequate.

Scott and Wilson then made the 3rd British bid for the pole reaching it shortly after Roald Amundsen's Norwegian team but died when they failed to complete the return journey before the winter weather closed in.