Planetary Grand Tour: Suggestions

[fost]

Hi all.
I'm planning a Planetary Grand Tour, a voyager or cassini-like travel around the solar system, and I'd like some suggestions about it.
For example: my idea is to start with a Deepstar in LEO carrying two Landers and two or three DG landed at some earth base, bring these DGs in orbit and docking to Deepstar, then leave earth going to Mars, Jupiter and the other planets, using IMFD. Then use Landers and DGs to explore natural moons while Deepstar continue the travel plan. I want to add some UMMU, named as famous astronomers, just as "honour to them".
So... did anyone of you a travel like this with Orbiter? Any suggestions or tips about time of depart, trajectory, travel plan, slingshots, other vessels to use, things to see and to do, name for astronauts, landing sites or moons... and so on...?
Waiting for incoming replays... cheers.
Fost

 

[agentgonzo]

I've done the voyager grand tour quite a few times (look up on the internet for the launch date, and then just use TransX or IMFD to set up the slingshots). I've also done the grand tour of all 8 planets. I started off landed at mercury in about the mid 1960s. From there, I launched to intersect Venus and did 3 slings past Venus before being able to intersect Earth. I think that I did another 3 or 4 slings of Earth to get to Mars and did a single sling from Mars to re-align for another Earth encounter. I then did about 6 Earth slings (wasting a lot of time) to align to Jupiter in the late '70s and then joined up on Voyager 2's Jupiter-Saturn-Uranus-Neputne trajectory. Took me the best part of a day and about 25 stages of transx (normally plotting about 3-5 stages ahead at any time) to complete it.

 

[fost]

Thanks agentgonzo, I will keep in mind, even if I'd prefer to start from earth. I think to visit the inner planets first and use them to sling to the outer ones later, as logical.
About the date, think I will use late '70s or maybe the next planetary alignment, around 2150, for fuel saving.