Abstract: A system and method for sublimation of water ice and/or water ice from a regolith. The system comprises a sublimation chamber under high to ultra-high vacuum into which protrudes a shield of a thermal management system. Sublimated water is collected to be further analysed or analysed in-line. For instance, cold traps can be used to trap water and transfer it to sample tube for analysis.

Abstract: A thermal management system comprising: a thermal source of low to cryogenic temperature; a heating element for heating the source; a shield adapted to exchange heat by conduction to/from a sample and to/from the source; a controller calibrated for maintaining a gradient of temperature along the shield within a pre-determined range; a vacuum sealing feedthrough comprising a thermal insulator element, the vacuum sealing feedthrough delimiting around the first interface a vacuum sealed volume so that the shield exchanges heat with the thermal source exclusively by conduction and exclusively at a first interface. An exemplary purpose for this thermal management system is the sublimation of water ice and/or water ice trapped in a regolith, and positioned in a vacuum chamber.

Abstract: An automatic water sampler apparatus which comprises at least one movable injection unit that can be positioned in order to inject the sample in a specific vial disposed on a tray of the apparatus, the tray being on the base of the apparatus. The positioning is done by two positioning units. The input unit of the apparatus comprises at least one water collector, but can also comprise four or more water collectors. The invention is also directed to a method of sampling water from a predetermined water body, where a plurality of samples can be collected thanks to the automatic water sampler apparatus.