what would a Vision for Space Exploration look like

it would have structure, and be full of exciting space craft, infrastructure, and destinations... there would be a sense of going forward, as each step was learned, scientific research was developed and incorporated into the advancement of humanity...

so what of the structure: there would have to be stepping stones, that would tell us the progress we were making... building of Launch Vehicles, and the infruatructure to develop, build, and fly them into space... Space vehicles and satellites would need to be built, and maintained... intermediary goals, that would lead logically to the next and then the next: return to the moon, lunar sorties (stays of 8 to 14 days on the moon at temporary bases); later a habitat for longer stays, with protection from Cosmic Rays (to teach us how to live on another planetary body, testing infrastructure for Mars landings); visit to Near Earth Objects, (for research on the origins of the Solar System, and for learning more about potential deflection to protect Earth from impacts in the future, practice of long duration space flights, prior to going to Mars); building of larger and more permanent Space Stations like the ISS, positioning them in LEO and in the L1 or L2 points as way posts to the Moon and beyond...
but ultimately the structure must be loose or flexible enough that should skipping a step be advisable or possible, then it would not create problems with the other steps or the research that is necessary for safe progress into the Solar System...
I have one caveate here... US space program insists on referring to any space exploration beyong LEO as Deep Space... that is wrong... anything within the Solar System is within the gravitaional effects of the Sun, and is therefore not deep space, but can be divided up into several areas:
LEO,
Inner Planets (Mars, Venus, Mercury) and Near Earth Objects,
Astroid Belt,
Outer Planets (Gas Giants: Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus),
near Planetary bodies (ie Pluto and several recently found bodies),
the Oort Cloud
the edge of Space, where the Sun's Solar Wind ends (I am not sure, but I don't believe the Oort Cloud goes out this far

That makes 7 distinct and separate categories of destinations for exploration, before heading out into DEEP SPACE, akin to the Continental Shelf, before heading out into DEEP OCEAN...