An optimized nulling ground based demonstrator for DARWIN: the ALADDIN proposal

We present here a ground-based mission which is optimized to study the exozodiacal dust around nearby solar-type stars. The objective is the same as the goal that led to the ESA phase A study for the GENIE nulling instrument at the VLTI: pave the way for future space missions dedicated to the spectroscopic IR characterization of exo-Earth atmospheres, by investigating one of the major, and least known, noise sources in the direct detection telluric exoplanets. An antarctic nuller is the optimal ground-based answer for this purpose, providing with relatively modest 1m apertures a capability that outperforms a pair of 8m telescopes on a temperate site. The ALADDIN concept is an integrated Antarctic-based L-band nulling breadboard with relatively modest collectors (1m) and baseline (