  Previous work in studying interstellar exploration by one or several probes
has focused primarily either on engineering models for a spacecraft targeting a
single star system, or large-scale simulations to ascertain the time required
for a civilization to completely explore the Milky Way galaxy. In this paper, a
simulated annealing algorithm is used to numerically model the exploration of
the local interstellar neighborhood (i.e. on the order of ten parsecs of the
Solar System) by a fixed number of probes launched from the Solar System; these
simulations use the observed masses, positions and spectral classes of targeted
stars. Each probe visits a pre-determined list of target systems, maintains a
constant cruise speed, and only changes direction from gravitational deflection
at each target. From these simulations, it is examined how varying design
choices -- differing the maximum cruise speed, number of probes launched,
number of target stars to be explored, and probability of avoiding catastrophic
system failure per parsec -- change the completion time of the exploration
program and the expected number of stars successfully visited. In addition, it
is shown that improving this success probability per parsec has diminishing
returns beyond a certain point. Future improvements to the model and possible
implications are discussed.
