Following after Eddington, the Darwin mission is the ultimate project within the context of ESA-led missions to search for and study terrestrial exo-planets. As such it may be one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by the Agency. In order to provide a connection with its predecessor, Eddington, we describe in this paper the rationale for the scientific case of the Darwin mission. We also describe how it has evolved during the study phase of the program and how it is expected to change when international collaboration is taken into account. Darwin is the first European mission designed to directly observe and evaluate the habitability of near by "terrestrial exo-planets. In this context, astrobiological signatures are discussed.
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