When you are in physics mode there should be an option to turn on, I guess they would be called 'vector lines' the would show you which way you are currently travelling and such, just a little red line that would give you a bearing...

I was in physics mode, and didn't have a reference in site and I could stop moving for 3 minutes because I didn't know which way I was going so I couldnt apply the appropriate counter thrust!

But yeah, I think that vector lines would be very usefull...

Just turn on space junk. That's what it's there for.

all my grahics are set to high, including space junk, i still think the vector line would be usefull though...

I agree. I personally think space junk is ugly. A little green heading indicator or "vector line" or whatever you want to call it would be useful.

This could be useful in Arcade Mode as well. There is a bar for 'forward', but no bars for how much thrust (or what your max speed is set at for that direction) for the other 7 directions. I think this could be really useful, knowing how much you were traveling in each direction.

Using your 'brakes' is a much more effective way to stop than applying counter thrust.

Anyways there are numerous threads already discussing the vector indicater idea, I'm sure the devs have thought about putting one in by now. I think it's more a matter of them figuring out how best to change the hud without cluttering things up or confusing the interface.