i am not using mods when the planets are transparent, also i have a 4 gig flash drive which unless you only download the patch and reinstall it to sins it wont hold it, but i will look into it more.
there are 5 files in the MODS pipelineeffect folder named
GS_Asteroid.fx
GS_Planet.fx
GS_Ship.fx
GS_ShipBuilding.fx
GS_ShipPhasedOut.fx
delete these and you should have your planets, asteriods and ships back
note DO NOT alter or delete ANY files in the program files folders
harpo