Crop Drops

The most common method of transferring cargo from low earth orbit to the Earth's surface. Because the most common cargo by mass was food raised in low earth orbit, and because the deceleration involved passive aerobraking, the cargo transfers were nicknamed "crop drops."

Operation Sequence

 * 1) The construction center builds the payload capsule with its heat shield, airbags, avionics, thrusters, and parachutes.
 * 2) The farm assembles the food package and loads it into the payload capsule.
 * 3) The tug docks at the farm’s loading dock, and the food package is attached to the cable end.
 * 4) The tug backs off to a safe distance.
 * 5) The tug begins to apply a minimal reverse thrust, while simultaneously reeling out the cable, while a brake on the cable spool maintains tension.
 * 6) As the cable plays out, the tidal forces increase; thrusters are soon no longer necessary to maintain tension.
 * 7) Once the target force is reached, the tug begins to thrust to get the whole setup rotating.
 * 8) Once the target force is reached, the cable is cut at the package end when the package passes through the desired vector. The package sails off.
 * 9) The tug reels in the empty cable. It maintains a slight upward acceleration as the last of the cable is reeled in to prevent the tip from drifting.
 * 10) Once the cable is in, the tug changes attitude and thrusts with the mass-driver to return to the farms for another load. If the tug is equipped with an electrodynamic tether, some of this thrust could come from drag on the Earth’s magnetic field.
 * 11) The package reenters Earth’s atmosphere, automatically adjusting attitude as necessary to maintain course.
 * 12) When its airspeed is low enough, the package deploys its parachutes.
 * 13) If landing on water, the package splashes down, then inflates pontoons to help stay afloat. If landing on land, it deploys airbags to cushion the impact.