'The SARA team is very pleased with the data received. The experiment fulfilled its scientific objectives. SARA considers Chandrayaan-1 as a full success. The team not only received science data but also demonstrated for the first time the feasibility of neutral atom imaging of the solar wind-surface interaction,' Koschny said.

The letter to ISRO further said if the SARA team were invited again to build an instrument for a 10-month Chandrayaan mission, 'we would, with no hesitation, agree to participate'.

The openness of the Chandrayaan-1 mission also came for praise from the European scientists. 'The management scheme involving Indian and non-Indian research group developing together a scientific instrument was extremely successful,' the letter said.

According to the European team leader, the data obtained by SARA opens a new field. 'The data demonstrate clearly that the field of the solar wind-Moon interaction is not boring as many scientists believed.'

According to the ESA scientists, the SARA experiment done on board Chandrayaan-1 has for the first time demonstrated that a large percentage of the solar wind protons get reflected back as neutral atoms, thus calling for a reconsideration of the 'accepted solar wind deposition rates'.

The experiment has shown that these neutrals can be used to study solar wind interaction with all planetary bodies that do not have an atmosphere.

(K.S. Jayaraman can be contacted at killugudi@hotmail.com)