From the passage provided, extract the launch date and current distance from Earth in miles of Voyager 1.

Context: Voyager 1 is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. Launched 16 days after its twin Voyager 2, Voyager 1 has been operating for 45 years, 6 months and 30 days as of April 5, 2023 UTC. It communicates through NASA's Deep Space Network to receive routine commands and to transmit data to Earth. Real-time distance and velocity data is provided by NASA and JPL. At a distance of 159.20 AU from Earth as of March 27, 2023, it is the most distant human-made object from Earth.

Answer: The Voyager 1 space probe was launched by NASA on September 5, 1977. As of March 27, 2023 Voyager 1 is 14.799 billion mi from Earth.