Transposition, docking, and extraction of upper stage docked back to First stage wet lab
SLS first stage almost makes it into orbit so we propose an audacious plan to perform a Transposition, docking, and extraction maneuver between the upper stage and its first stage! The upper stage docks with the first stage and then fires its engine to bring the first stage to orbit.Possibly the docked stack makes to orbit.I believe SLS is in a 200 by 70 Kilometer orbit at MECO
Astronaut longterm health is not well served by small ISS/Gateway modules so we propose that the largest possible square meter per astronaut are optimally placed in LEO and then COTS process to compete for SEP and chemical to preposition these very large Wet lab space stations throughout the solar system.
SLS, Vulcan, New Glen and to a lesser extent Falcon 9 could use Transposition, docking, and extraction to use the upper stage to bring the stack to orbit.The only payload would be an Ixion type docking adapter.The Falcon 9 is the one system that has a high-value maneuvering system that might enhance docking with its upper stage to bring both to orbit.
This daring maneuver is after all suborbital DT &E!
This is incorrect! we are docking with the first stage and transporting it somewhere.This result would be both first stage and upper stage in LEO but this could a part of the distributed lift idea for the upper stage.
EDIT 26 April 2018
I have learning disabilities so let me try to think things out
We need to know the dry mass of the first stage at MECO the first stage is now are payload, Tory Bruno tells us on Twitter that first stage dry mass is 5 to 7 pounds to each pound of payload
Dry mass of the first stage at what kilometers per second? What is our shortfall to orbit? let’s do this with each first stage as wet lab candidate
Ariane 6
At MECO kilometers per second/dry mass of Ariane first stage/ wet mass of second stage and ISP of the second stage over the combined mass of both over the dry mass of first and second stage at MECO 2 of the first stage