How to stop my kerbals from breaking stuff

[annallia]

I apparently spoke too soon when I said Bob went to the Mun and for the first time stayed there intentionally rather than because of some accident..

I sent a ship out to get him, I didn't want my first manned mission to Duna since updating to 0.21.1 to be piloted by some rookie and Jeb and Bill were busy taking my newest ship on a shakedown cruise to Eeloo. So I figured what a perfect time to test the new Mun lander I had been working on and I sent a ship to the Mun to get Bob, as well as pick up a few of the other Kerbals I had stationed there.

Well the Kerbals had a little trouble navigating the ladder system so I figured to hell with it, use their jet packs and land them on the ledge. First 3 went just fine, then came Bob. He nudged the hitchhiker pod, moving very slowly yet it was somehow enough to dislodge it from from the rest of the lander below now making him stranded.

How can I stop this from happening? This isn't the first time a minor bump has disconnected a lander from its fuel tank. And before anyone says struts, this had 16 of the super heavy struts from NovaPunch holding it together.

[togfox]

I cant say ive ad this problem. You sure it wasnt broken previously and nudgesimply made that more obvious.

[annallia]

The struts were still intact, at the point of it being disconnected they would have gone as well (as they did when he nudged it). I could understand this one being weakened, we did have a dock with another ship to refuel before heading to Mun that was a little... rough but as I said, this is not the first time this has happened and the landing was very soft.

[Johnno]

How can I stop this from happening?

Build better ladder systems or control your kerbals more carefully.

I've never had those kinds of issues myself, it could even be that your mod or the overuse of those struts is introducing the issue. You could test the design on Kerbin, with and without struts (or an entirely stock game on the side if you have the possibility). Hack gravity and jetpack kerbals into the craft in a similar manner to when your accidents took place.

Personally I'd just place my ladder(s) carefully and walk up to them, jump (without jetpack) and press F as soon as the text appears.

Pictures would help for further diagnosis.

[Tiron]

The struts were still intact, at the point of it being disconnected they would have gone as well (as they did when he nudged it). I could understand this one being weakened, we did have a dock with another ship to refuel before heading to Mun that was a little... rough but as I said, this is not the first time this has happened and the landing was very soft.

Hit F3 and check for an actual 'connection broke' message. The struts SHOULD have disconnected if it actually broke off.

If it just moved a bit when he touched it, well, that happens. The joints flex, parts can shift around, particularly when kerbals start crashing into them. As long as the actual connection doesn't break it isn't a problem.

Edit: Oh wait, I read that wrong.

That is weird, the connection shouldn't be THAT weak...that's the second post I've seen today talking about weak connections...