Marc Ollivier , Alain Léger , Pascal Bordé , and Bruno Chazelas
WILL EXOBIOLOGY OUT OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM STOP AFTER THE DARWIN MISSION?

WILL EXOBIOLOGY OUT OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM STOP AFTER THE DARWIN MISSION?

Marc Ollivier (1), Alain Léger (1), Pascal Bordé (2), and Bruno Chazelas (1)
(1)Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), Université Paris-Sud 11 and CNRS (UMR 8617)
(2) Michelson Science Center, Pasadena, USA

The DARWIN space mission aims at detecting the (possible) 1-10 Earth-mass planets around 200 to 300 nearby stars, and perform their thermal infrared spectroscopy. The goal is to determine their atmospheric composition. With a spectral resolution of the instrument ($\lambda$/ $\Delta \lambda$) of about 50 and a signal to noise ratio varying from 5 to 20, the mission has 2 major objectives:
(1) Exoplanetology, with an attractive possibility of comparing the properties of these objets to those of the Solar System planets;
(2) Exobiology by the search for biosignatures that can reveal the presence of life similar to ours.

Even if one of the first objectives is to have the mission flying promptly, it makes sense thinking to the "After DARWIN", although the latter will probably be strongly determined by the (unexpected) discoveries of DARWIN. We will discuss the merits and technical requirements of the different possibilities , including:
(1) imaging these planets (e.g. mission such as "Exo Earth Imager";
(2) performing visible-Near IR spectroscopy;
(3) spectroscopy in the thermal IR at higher resolution, S/N and on a larger stellar sample ("Super DARWIN").

The ultimate goal of searching for indices of technological life will also be discussed.