Robert Falcon Scott Markham's first choice as leader but, having decided on him, the older man's support remained constant. There were committee battles over the scope of Scott's responsibilities, with the Royal Society pressing to put a scientist in charge of the expedition's programme while Scott merely commanded the ship. Eventually, however, Markham's view prevailed; Scott was given overall command, and was promoted to the rank of commander before "Discovery" sailed for the Antarctic on 6 August 1901. King Edward VII, who showed a keen interest in the expedition, visited the Discovery the day before the ship left British shores in August 1901,
Scouting in the Antarctic New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition. The other Scout, Norman Mooney, left the expedition "en route" due to illness. Paul Siple took part in two Byrd expeditions of 1928 to 1930 and 1933 to 1935, representing the Boy Scouts of America as an Eagle Scout. Following the example of Paul Siple, Eagle Scout Richard Chappell was selected to join the researchers of the United States Antarctic Program to mark International Geophysical Year in 1957-58. Mark Lienmiller was similarly selected to go to the Antarctic in 1978 for the 50th anniversary of Byrd's 1928 expedition. This was repeated in 1985 when Doug