This is really stupid but I entered a note into the ship's log but was unable to go back to the game.
I have tried every key I can think of but no joy.

I really want to try this game out as it sounds really good!

Thank you for your time.

To answer your question, I would have to fire the game up and try it out. I think it is right or left arrow key to exit.

Next point: It sounds like you forced the program closed. That means your saved game no longer works. If you exit the game without saving for any reason, then the game no longer works. You have to either start over or copy an earlier save.

In the old days, you had two 5.25 inch floppy disks. They were very clear that you have make copies and play the game off the copies. To save the current state of the game, you had to copy the two disks. I used to have a box full of floppy disks with various save states.

Do you know how to back up your saved game? It is very important that you do.

Added - Also:

The ship's log is very limited and not all that useful or important. If you feel the need (for role-playing purposes) you would do much better to minimize the application and open a word processor (or Wordpad) and type in your ship's log there.

Also important:

If you are not following a walk-through or the hint book, it is important that you have a pen and a paper pad nearby so that you can take notes. Specifically, in Starflight 1, communications with aliens are not recorded and contain important clues and if you do not remember and did not take notes, then you have to go through quite a bit of conversation to get to that note again.

Starflight 2 has a feature where you can recall an earlier conversation.

No problem. It was a very happy day for me when I saw this game on gog. It brought back a whole bunch of memories from early high-school and just before. It will be quite a few hours before I can look it up, but I will let you know. This will work. I just copy the original folder and various save states and name them accordingly. It sounds like you want to experience the game with minimal spoilers. Well if you get stuck somewhere and do not want to look up the hint book, just let us know! Hopefully it does not come to that. How far in the game were you?

Thanks!
That sounds like it would have worked a treat! I did try to get the cursor over it but was somehow unable to do so.
Nevermind I had only just started the game anyway so it didn't hurt to start again.

Yes, I want to play with no spoilers as this sounds right up my street! I also have the sequel but am obviously saving that for when I complete the first game!.

Thanks again for all your help! :-)

I found the solution is to..
1. move your cursor to the EXIT
2. press ENTER

Thank you :)