I still don't understand why they continue to put the planets (and other solar effects such as asteroid belts) on the main screen.  It would be much cooler if they showed the star system and you flew into it.  You use impulse drives within a solar system and Hyper-drives (or whatever) between solar systems.  Think of all the cool things you could do within a solar system...  Although, I suspect that's a little too complex for the average gamer.  That's probably one of the reasons Outpost has never been brought up to speed (and can no longer be played on newer computers).