I did this 'Rescue Kerbal Mission from orbit' and sent up an empty pod. Or so, I thought. Jeb sneaked on board just before launch. So, when the pod reached the unfortunate Kerbal, he couldn't enter because the pod was full. I sent Jeb on EVA and boarded the other Kerbal. With Jeb on the ladder, I did the deorbit burn. The landerpod had 2 radial parachutes, but also enough power to land motorised. So I strapped the chute on Jeb. He landed within 500m of the VAB.