Twickenham isn't the final frontier

A crowd of more than 50,000 is expected at Twickenham today to discover, among other things, whether Oxford's would-be astronaut can find enough space to help the Dark Blues beat Cambridge and retain the Bowring Bowl.

Sam Adlen, a 23-year-old student of planetary physics, takes his Varsity match bow in the centre as a break from a doctorate in philosophy, partly funded by the National Aeronautical and Space Agency in Florida. His subject is literally light years from Twickenham: the search for water on Mars.

'I am part of a team designing an instrument that will go on a satellite around Mars,' said Adlen. 'When I finish my D.Phil. there will be a couple of avenues open to me. I'd like to be involved in the space industry and there is a fair chance I would end up in America.

'It's certainly been my dream to go into space. Michael Foale, who was at Cambridge for a while, did it so maybe it's the turn of someone from Oxford to follow suit.

'I am moving in the right direction to be able to achieve that. All I can do is put my name in the hat and see what happens.' Having broken Cambridge's five-year winning streak 12 months ago, Oxford are expected to retain possession of the Bowl, not least because the only international players are both on their side, U.S.A. prop Ray Lehner and the former Wallaby flanker Brett Robinson, who boast a combined total of 55 caps. Robinson, a 30-year-old doctor who retired from professional rugby after appearing for the ACT Brumbies in their losing Super 12 against Canterbury Crusaders, will be playing only his fourth match for Oxford since arriving last month to start research work.

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