Possibility of an "explorer mode"?

Back when FTL didn't yet have a DLC/expansion, one of the more popular mods that existed was the one that removed the impending wave of Federations and let the player roam around the sector at a more leisurely pace. This helped some of the users lower the difficulty (or at least lower the stress caused by RNGesus) and give them a better chance to explore more hidden quests and achievements that'd normally require many playthroughs.

/u/rockfishgames, any chance of seeing this in a future patch? Either as just removing the intercepting fleet or as both that and allowing the user to back-track and cover all nodes in a sector? Perhaps as an unlockable NG+ mode once the player finishes the game once on a standard difficulty?