Characteristics of the modulated collector current of secondary electrons from the grids of a multielectrode probe in an attitude sensor

The results of experiments in which the effect of secondary-electron emission from different grids of a multielectrode probe on the formation of the components of the modulated collector current, which disrupt the normal operation of ionic attitude sensors in orbiters, are presented. The secondary electrons were generated by an electron gun. To simplify the analysis of the results, the experiments were performed with a simplified probe. The validity of this procedure was established in preceding studies. A grid with a variable secondary-emission coefficient was used to determine the effect of different mechanisms of modulation of the secondary electrons on the current-voltage characteristics of the probe