Curious range of responses here
The GES is simply a non-binding strategy that will enable to better cooperation in space exploration. This is a worthy declaration that builds in the reality of more than 40 years of colloborative space exploration. The past 40 years have seen probles sent to every major body in the solar system, and many of the smaller ones. With the increasing number of space faring nations and the increasing capabilities for space exploration such a strategy makes eminent sense. Most who have posted seem to have absolutely no idea as what all of this is about or any sense of vision.
Morely Dotes seems to think this is an excluse for smart aleck comments about the number of agencies taking part.
"Lessons from the Moon" seems unaware that NASA had extensive quaratine proceedures for the first lunar samples to ensure thare was no biological hazards. Fruthermore there is an extensive literature on how to handle futures samples from Mars and elsewhere.
"And you think that the public moon rocks are the real ones ?" appears to be ignorant of the fact that the Apollo samples (and those from the Soviet Luna probes" have been studied by hundreds of institutions round the world.
Mike VandeVelde cynicism about the rewards for investment in space science and technology is ironic since it is made on a technology that owes much to investment in space. As for finding statements about global goals in space exploration sleep inducing, that is his problem. Or does he think there should be no global goals, nbo global cooperation or perhaps no space exploration at all?