Ernest Shackleton, the polar explorer, who inspired Henry Worsley to make his nearly-successful walk across Antarctica (see post below), was born 15 February 1874 5am Kildare, Ireland.
On his third polar expedition his ship Endurance became trapped in pack ice and was slowly crushed before the shore parties could be landed. Shackleton took four men in a 20 foot lifeboat on a stormy ocean voyage of 720 nautical miles to get help, returned and rescued the entire crew. He suffered, it is thought, from a congenital hole in the heart incredibly and he died aged 47 of a heart attack.
He had a Sun Venus in Aquarius square Pluto in Taurus and sextile Neptune in Aries. That Sun aspect to Pluto and Neptune is often seen in the charts of highly successful individuals – puts determination behind a vision. He also had a (so called) Mystic Rectangle of an adventurous Jupiter opposition Mars in Aries and Moon Saturn in Aquarius opposition Uranus, which was interlinked by sextiles and trines. So a risk-taker and quite autocratic. His Moon Saturn opposition Uranus was also square a Taurus North Node – tying him into the zeitgeist.
When the Endurance became stuck in early 1915 tr Pluto was square his Jupiter, triggering his Mystic Rectangle, and ensuring he had the confidence to push on through intolerable conditions. Over the next gruelling eighteen months tr Pluto opposed his Mars/Jupiter midpoint and Solar Arc Pluto squared his Jupiter – again giving him a crazy hope of survival and luck.
The Endurance was completed 17 December 1912 which made it a Sun Jupiter in Sagittarius opposition Pluto in Gemini – overloaded with a touch too much confidence, especially with the tr Saturn conjunct tr Pluto in late Gemini approaching. Tr Saturn was exactly opposition its Jupiter when it became trapped in ice.
Shackleton’s fellow explorers and rivals were principally Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott.
Amundsen, 16 July 1872 5am Borge, Norway, led the first expedition to reach the South Pole amongst others and died in an air rescue crash aged 56. He had a Sun Venus in Cancer opposition Saturn in Capricorn square Neptune in Aries; with his Sun Venus sextile Pluto. So again a strong visionary Neptune and Pluto. His Saturn was in a tough trine to Pluto and widely opposition Mars in Cancer. Plus he had an adventurous, lucky Jupiter Uranus in Leo.
Scott, 6 June 1868, was a Sun Gemini sextile Neptune Jupiter in Aries, and semi-sextile ruthlessly determined Pluto Mars in Taurus. With Jupiter Neptune square Uranus.
So prerequisites appear to be Sun aspecting Neptune and Pluto; a heavy Mars; and Jupiter Uranus for good fortune and a love of risk.