Here is what Scrooge McDuck informed me about saving the game files.  Affects steps 19 and 23: "You can easily save with other extensions in Notepad, by clicking Save as, then Type select to All. Now you can just save an .scn file as well." I haven't tried this yet but McDuck is a heavy hitter and knows his stuff!   Thanks for the tip! == Here is what dh219 and Elpelado posted to the forum about correction burns.  This info was incorporated into the checklist as the new item 44.5. dh219 - "Are you engaging manoeuvre mode only when you need to do the course correction?  You're not leaving it on and doing the corrections with several-month-old data?" Elpelado - "After any course correction turn off the manoeuvre mode.  That way Trans X is updated with the new info you get after  you made the burn...." Thanks also to snake111 who's forum posts prompted these responses. I was totally in the dark about this step.  Somehow I was getting to mars without deliberately taking these actions.  It's possible that through adjusting the other variables, I was turning the manoeuvre mode on and off and resetting it by accident.  However, I've made another trip to mars using these additional steps and it works a lot better.  My approach was much closer than any previous trip. Thanks dh219, Elpalado and snake111!