The purpose of the re-entry phase is to reduce excessive speed and altitude to meet the initialisation conditions of the Terminal Area Energy Management (TAEM) phase for a reusable launch vehicle (RLV). The key to re-entry guidance research lies in designing the lateral bank angle profile and the longitudinal angle-of-attack profile. The bank angle profile must be designed to ensure achievement of the total re-entry range, while the angle-of-attack profile should primarily minimise the aerodynamic heating load of the vehicle. In this paper, a guidance law design method based on the drag-energy profile is presented, and the profile is obtained using an optimisation method. A linear control law is derived to track the drag reference; the angle-of-attack and bank angle profiles are developed, and a re-entry flight guidance and control system is established based on a specific vehicle model. Flight simulation results show that the control system works effectively: the RLV can fly to the start of the TAEM phase with a range error of less than 0.2 km, a maximum overload of 1.6 g (meeting the constraint requirement of 2.5 g) and a maximum dynamic pressure of 13 kPa (below the allowable limit of 17 kPa); the trajectory azimuth angle error is limited to within ±18°, which fully verifies the accuracy, safety and feasibility of the proposed guidance method.

Arc-jet facilities have been the norm for ablation experiments used to calibrate computational models to date. However, the arc jet has a few major limitations and challenges, including non-uniform enthalpy distribution, non-equilibrium state, change of surface quality during testing and the extent of oxidation, to name but a few. A novel plasma technique for preheating axisymmetric heatshield samples in hypersonic impulse facilities is presented herein. The major aim of this innovative work is to help reduce the large variations of ablation rate predictions, space vehicle materials and missile design/testing, obtain strongly coupled hypersonic boundary layers and achieve lower cost of aerothermodynamics experiments. This present work remains one of the most highly anticipated solutions to maximise payload success and replicate high surface temperatures identical to those experienced by real flight vehicles. This work makes a useful contribution to re-entry studies under conditions that replicate the characteristics of re-entry flights. Future applications for the technique are expected to be found in hypersonic impulse facilities that can simulate the true flow energy under re-entry conditions.

In this article we present the results of a panel survey in which 242 men aged 40 to 55 were followed for approximately seven years after they became involuntarily unemployed. The study focused on reintegration probabilities of the older workers and on the question of their reaction to a situation of prolonged unemployment. The study shows that if policy is not changed, the probability of the reintegration of older, long-term unemployed persons into the labour force will remain extremely low. Re-entry via a ‘normally’ functioning labour market (formal application procedures and official job intermediaries) takes place almost exclusively during the first year after dismissal. If a new job is not found, a resigned feeling occurs among almost all of this older unemployed group. Most of the older people adjust to the new circumstances sooner or later. If one wishes to protect older persons from the trap of long-term unemployment (and in many cases total exclusion), more rapid interventions must be made, and reorientation and retraining efforts must be started sooner, before it is ‘too late’. From the employer’s point of view, there is not much interest in those who are still unemployed after one year.