Launch

     The autopilot for the launch is already set to the correct heading you need to launch into a holding orbit when you open the scenario.  Watch your fuel as much as possible since you must have enough fuel left over in the 2^nd stage to to get you to Venus (a Δv of about 3850m/s).  While the heading that's programmed into the autopilot (which only works up until 2^nd stage separation) is roughly accurate, you can use your yaw to correct your heading as you are ascending.

     As you are launching, watch the white line that indicates the line where your relative nodes are, and use the "Ej Orientation" variable to keep it matched up with the green line that indicates your current position.  Try and get the "Rel. Inc." as low as possible.  Once you are in orbit and your in a circular Low-Earth-Orbit, use the "Ej Orientation" once more to get your "Rel. Inc." down even closer to 0 (you no longer need to worry about if the node line matches with your position line).

Earth Orbit Ejection

     The Ejection burn to get you on your way to Venus is a fairly standard burn.  If you've done an ejection burn before using transX or IMFD, you can do this as it is no different.  After you have finished the burn, and jettisoned the Delta IV Heavy 2^nd stage, open the radiators on the Io Orbiter Booster stage by pressing "K."  These radiators help bleed off excess heat, and help keep the Hydrogen and Oxygen in their liquid states.

     After jettison, transX will probably not work right for the booster.  You should be able to import it from the Delta IV Heavy 2^nd stage, but it doesn't seem to work for me.  I find the only way to do it is do a Quicksave (from the spent stage), and then edit the saved file.  You will need to replace any mention of "Delta4HV" in the MFD information with "IObooster." For example:

TYPE User MODE TransX Ship Delta4HV Should become: TYPE User MODE TransX Ship IObooster

     After you have made the replacements, you can reopen the file, and the transX planed should be completely switched over to Io Orbiter booster stage.  Remember to do a course-correction burn after leaving Earth's SOI (Sphere Of Influence, roughly 8 times the distance to the moon).

Venus Fly-by

     This fly-by is the easiest of the three to do.  TransX seems to have an easier time rendezvousing and flying-by this planet then other planets (probably because it lacks any moons), so you can do your course-correction burns fairly early, and still be on track for a perfect fly-by.

1^st Earth Fly-by

     Unlike the Venus fly-by, the Earth fly-bys are much more difficult (at least with transX).  You need to do a large number of course correction burns until you get fairly close to Earth (basically when the Orbit MFD switches to Earth as the reference).  The best times I found to do correction burns are the following:

• 30 days out
• 5 days out
• 2 days out
• 1 day out
• and then every time your Relative Inclination and Pe Ratio gets too high/low (usually every 0.2 days), until you are within 50% of Earth's SOI (when the Orbit MFD switches to Earth as the reference).

     You should only need thrusters to do these burns, as the main engine is pretty powerful, and it is easy to over-burn if you use it.  Make sure you do a rough course correction burn as soon as you are out of Earth's SOI.

2^nd Earth Fly-by

     The same as the 1st Earth Fly-by, the only difference is to try and set up your slingshot so that when you rendezvous with Jupiter, you have the lowest encounter velocity as possible.

Jupiter Approach

     As you approach Jupiter, you want to intercept Io with as little relative velocity as possible.  To get your velocity on encounter as low as possible, set up your intercept so that your "Pe. Lat." is as close to 0 as possible, and you Perijove is at the same distance as Io's orbit.  You can adjust the date of your intercept (and thus where Io is), and the position by adjusting your outward velocity (to adjust your encounter date) and your prograde velocity (to adjust your altitude).  Adjust your inclination to get your Pe. Lat. down to as close to 0 as possible.

     When you enter Jupiter's SOI, the screen switches to encounter view, and it may be too difficult to tell how the intercept is set up, so it is recommended that you switch the "Scale to View" variable to "Target," which should give you a better view of the encounter.

     As you get closer to Io, switch one of your MFDs to the final stage (Io Encounter) and set up your encounter with Io, try and get your Inclination to about 47° (to set you on the right angle for the Io Lander), and your Min. Alt. to Io as low as possible.

Io Insertion

     The Io Orbit Insertion burn is fairly straight forward, however you can't use the retrograde setting to turn you retrograde, as it will only turn you retrograde relative to Jupiter, and not Io.  Switch the reference on the Orbit HUD to Io (Ctrl-R to change it), and turn manually.  You need to start the burn at a fairly large distance, so make sure you set up early.  You can also adjust the height of your periapsis to Io by yawing slightly towards or away from the planet (turning left to right).

Booster Separation

     Once you have achieved orbit around Io, and circularized your orbit, you can release the Io Orbiter from the booster by pressing "J."  You will notice that the Io Lander stowed on top of the probe has disappeared.  This is because the lander isn't set as a payload for the orbiter, instead it has to be attached to it.  Quicksave, open the saved file, and past the following text before the "END_SHIPS" tag:

IoLander:Spacecraft\Spacecraft3 STATUS Orbiting Io PRPLEVEL 0:1.000 ATTACHED 0:0,IoOrbiter NAVFREQ 0 0 RCS 1 END

Landing on Io

     Before you detach the lander from the orbiter, make sure your orbit is lined up with the landing site, and that the landing site is in day light.  You do not need to do to lower your periapsis with the Orbiter first (like an Apollo mission), but the lower the orbit you have, the better.  Detach the Io Lander using AttachmentMFD and set up AutoLandMFD for the "Io Lander Target" and let it guide you in.

     Once you start getting close to the landing site, lower the landing struts by pressing "G."  At about 40 feet from the target, is a good time to disengage the AutoLandMFD and let yourself slower descend to the surface.  Once your struts touch the surface, turn off hover, you should now be on the surface of Io.  Press "K" to deploy the instruments, and "Shift-0" to lower the sample drill.

Plane Change

     Finally, to place the Io Orbiter in its final orbit, perform a standard plane change burn to place the Io Orbiter at an inclination of 85° to 95°.  Remember, because of Io's close proximity to Jupiter, and perturbations caused by the other moons, make sure you keep a close eye on your orbit so you don't accidently crash into the surface.