Darwin-A Mission to Detect and Search for Life on Extrasolar Planets

C. S. Cockell (1) , A. Léger (2) , M. Fridlund (3) , T. M. Herbst (4) , L. Kaltenegger , O. Absil (5) , C. Beichman , W. Benz (6) , M. Blanc (7) , A. Brack (8) , A. Chelli (5) , L. Colangeli (9) , H. Cottin (10) , F. Coudé Du Foresto , W. C. Danchi , D. Defrère , J.-W. den Herder , C. Eiroa , J. Greaves (11) , T. Henning (4) , K. J. Johnston , H. Jones (12) , L. Labadie (5) , H. Lammer (13) , R. Launhardt (4) , P. Lawson (14) , O. P. Lay , J.-M. Leduigou , R. Liseau , F. Malbet (5) , S. R. Martin (15) , D. Mawet (2) , D. Mourard (16) , C. Moutou (17) , L. M. Mugnier (18) , M. Ollivier (2) , F. Paresce (19) , A. Quirrenbach (20) , Y. D. Rabbia (16) , J. A. Raven (21) , H. J. A. Rottgering (22) , D. Rouan (23) , N. C. Santos (24) , Franck Selsis (25, 26, 27, 28) , E. Serabyn , H. Shibai (17) , M. Tamura , Éric Thiébaut (25) , F. Westall (8) , G. J. White (29)

1 PSSRI - Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute [Milton Keynes]
2 IAS - Institut d'astrophysique spatiale
3 RSSD - Research and Scientific Support Department, ESTEC
4 MPIA - Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie
5 LAOG - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble
6 Physikalisches Institut [Bern]
7 Tumeurs endocrines digestives : mécanismes de la tumorigenèse et de la progression tumorale
8 CBM - Centre de biophysique moléculaire
9 OAC - INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte
10 LISA (UMR_7583) - Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques
11 Opération Cétacés
12 Centre for Astrophysics Research [Hatfield]
13 IWF - Space Research Institute of Austrian Academy of Sciences
14 SPEC Inc.
15 LRI - Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique
16 FIZEAU - Laboratoire Hippolyte Fizeau
17 LAM - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille
18 ONERA - The French Aerospace Lab [Châtillon]
19 ESO - European Southern Observatory
20 LSW - Landessternwarte Königstuhl [ZAH]
21 LSP - Laboratoire de Spectrométrie Physique
22 Leiden Observatory [Leiden]
23 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
24 CAUP - Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto
25 CRAL - Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon
26 OASU - Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers
27 L3AB - Laboratoire d'astrodynamique, d'astrophysique et d'aéronomie de bordeaux
28 LAB - Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux [Pessac]
29 Engineering Department

The discovery of extrasolar planets is one of the greatest achievements of modern astronomy. The detection of planets that vary widely in mass demonstrates that extrasolar planets of low mass exist. In this paper, we describe a mission, called Darwin, whose primary goal is the search for, and characterization of, terrestrial extrasolar planets and the search for life. Accomplishing the mission objectives will require collaborative science across disciplines, including astrophysics, planetary sciences, chemistry, and microbiology. Darwin is designed to detect rocky planets similar to Earth and perform spectroscopic analysis at mid-infrared wavelengths (6-20 μm), where an advantageous contrast ratio between star and planet occurs. The baseline mission is projected to last 5 years and consists of approximately 200 individual target stars. Among these, 25-50 planetary systems can be studied spectroscopically, which will include the search for gases such as CO2, H2O, CH4, and O3. Many of the key technologies required for the construction of Darwin have already been demonstrated, and the remainder are estimated to be mature in the near future. Darwin is a mission that will ignite intense interest in both the research community and the wider public.

Mots clés: Darwin; Extrasolar planets; Orbital telescopes; M stars; Earth-like planets; Interferometry

Domaines: Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]; Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]

C. S. Cockell, A. Léger, M. Fridlund, T. M. Herbst, L. Kaltenegger, et al.. Darwin-A Mission to Detect and Search for Life on Extrasolar Planets. Astrobiology, 2009, 9, pp.1-22. ⟨10.1089/AST.2007.0227⟩. ⟨hal-00405903⟩