Infrared space interferometry — the DARWIN mission Original Research Article

DARWIN is a cornerstone mission of the Horizons 2000+ program of the European Space Agency. It has the express purpose of carrying out the first direct search for terrestrial exoplanets, and to achieve unprecedented spatial resolution in the infrared wavelength region. The detection and study of terrestrial exoplanets promises to usher in a new era in science and will affect a broad spectrum of diciplines. Further, the time line for implementation of such an instrument is now likely to be of the close order of 10 years, leading to possible answers to one of mankindʹs most fundamental questions in the second decade of the 21 st century.