Why is my pod breaking up when landing in the sea?

[Naesstrom]

So, I'm just getting started with the career mode (again) since I quit last time for the exact same reason!

I build a rocket, go up in orbit and does a bunch of science, head back down again and the bloody thing breaks apart and all I get is the crew reports and not anything else of the experiments!

I can't get around figuring out why it keeps breaking up when I hit the water even tough I have the parachute deployed?

[Kasuha]

When landing on water, apparently the crash resistance check is applied on each part that touches the water, not just the landing gear. And single small chute is definitely not enough to slow down your whole return module below the crash resistance limit. Add two or three radial chutes and you should be fine.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Kasuha

[Claw]

By the way, if one of your landers breaks up but the pieces are still there, you can "recover" them if you go to the tracking station. You will have to move the mouse up to the top of the screen and some buttons will pop up. The left most button is the "Debris" button. You can click this button and it will highlight the debris. Then you can recover and still obtain the science.

[Jimbimbibble]

Better yet, just grab all the science, store it in the pod, and decouple everything else. You can do that now in .23 by right clicking on an instrument.

[Dave Kerbin]

The Science Jr is fragile with a crash resistence of 6 m/s. You either need to use a kerbal to move the data from the Science Jr into a safer command pod, or add radial parachutes to slow it down to less then 6 m/s when it hits the water.