Despite all the obstacles, people have repeatedly traveled to the North and South Poles, trying to fill in the “blank spots” on the world map, collect unique scientific material and simply prove to themselves and everyone else that they are stronger than nature. One of the first who managed to conduct successful polar expeditions was the traveler and explorer Roald Amundsen (1872-1928). Starting from 1903, Amundsen carried out a number of expeditions that became widely known. He first passed (1903-1906) on a small fishing vessel "Gjoa" through the Northwest Passage from east to west from Greenland to Alaska. Fate decreed that he failed to become the first person to visit the North Pole, but he was the first to reach the South Pole. On the ship "Fram" he went to Antarctica, landed in Whale Bay and on December 14, 1911, reached the South Pole on dogs, a month ahead of the English expedition of Robert Scott. Upon returning from Antarctica, Amundsen wanted to repeat Fridtjof Nansen's drift across the Arctic Ocean, having previously passed along the northeastern passage - along the northern shores of Eurasia. In the summer of 1918, the expedition left Norway on the ship Maud and reached the Bering Strait in 1920. Thus, Amundsen became the first explorer to make a sea crossing of both the North-Eastern (along the coast of Siberia) and the North-Western sea route (along the straits of the Canadian archipelago). In 1926, he led the first trans-Arctic flight on the airship "Norway" along the route: Spitsbergen - North Pole - Alaska. The travelers proceeded over hitherto unknown territory, thereby eliminating the last “blank spot” on the world map. Polar exploration was Amundsen's whole life, and it was also his death. When Umberto Nobile, two years later, equipped a second Arctic air expedition aboard the airship Italia, identical to the Norway, the expedition disappeared. Amundsen took part in the search party. The second search party discovered the airship and the living Nobile, but Amundsen and his companions never returned - the Latham seaplane on which Amundsen was flying died along with the crew in the Barents Sea. A sea, a mountain and the American scientific station Amundsen-Scott in Antarctica, as well as a bay and basin in the Arctic Ocean are named in honor of Amundsen.