I didn't explain myself well.
I saw the instructions. I read them carefully. I knew exactly what the purple and white things did.
The problem was, the colors themselves didn't resonate with me. Why does purple promote atmospheric density? That's why I was looking for some techno-babble to hang my immersion on. eg: purple projectiles are filled with neutronium anti-particles which will eliminate the ozone layer on a planet. The jargon could be anything, really. Red and blue are obviously hot and cold, so they don't have the same problem.
But it's cool if you don't want to have that in the game.
Regarding the camera. I knew about moving the camera, but that didn't change the point of origin for the shot, so it made more sense to wait until the planet came around.