Rescue Missions

[Raab70]

Alright all so I got KSP a few weeks ago and of course right when I started I launched up quite a few projects. Most of them were poor attempts at starting a space station (which is now functional). A lot of them were space station parts that ran out of fuel. So they have docking ports, and kerbals!. I want to bring them home of course. I have modified my space station launcher to carry a little more fuel (to get them out of orbit) and trimmed off most of the space station parts. So here's the problem:

Every time I am able to dock with the other ship, reenter the atmosphere and while the ship is floating gently down, parachutes open, the docking port breaks off and the "rescued" ship plummets to the ocean, losing the kerbals. Should I be using a drogue parachute? More Parachutes? The rescued ships do not have parachutes which means I can't just break up and let each land safely. Is there any way to retrieve these kerbals?

The setup is very basic. I have a Mk1-2 pod with 3 radial chutes and a clamp-0-tron on top. Everything else but that breaks away on the rescue ship. Most of the ships to be rescued are similar containing just a Mk1-2 pod with a docking port and maybe an FL-R1 and some solar panels or gadgets. Everything else breaks away. Should I be using a different pod or an unmanned pod on my rescue ship?

Thanks

[Johnno]

You can remove crew from a pod before launch by using the crew tab, but make sure to add a probecore (and power for it). Alternatively you can add/use a hitchhiker storage container which by default is empty.

Edit: Just use EVA to transfer crew into the 'rescue' ship once it arrives.