As of October 8, 2023, Voyager 1 has been operating for 46 years, 1 month and 3 days. Voyager 1s trajectory took it up and out of the plane of the planets after it passed Saturn, and it reached both Jupiter and Saturn sooner than its twin, Voyager 2. Voyager 1 entered interstellar space beyond the bubble of the solar wind on August 25, 2012, and it is currently escaping the solar system at a speed of about 3.5 AU per year, 35 degrees out of the ecliptic plane to the north, in the general direction of the constellation Ophiuchus. Voyager 1 discovered new rings and moons around the two giants, and it also spotted volcanoes on Jupiters moon Io. The information collected by Voyager 1 is helping scientists learn about the comet-like shape of the heliosphere and how it protects Earth from energized particles and radiation in interstellar space. Voyager 1 is still operational and communicating with Earth through the NASA Deep Space Network to receive routine commands and to transmit data.