The Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft will cut its travel time to the distant dwarf planet by five years thanks to a 9,000mph boost that it will get from Jupiter's gravitational field.

The spacecraft will enter the giant planet's jurisdiction on February 26. There will be no wasted time in this detour as New Horizons will make about 700 observations of Jupiter's hostile atmosphere and take photographs of its ring system. The smaller Red Spot found in the planet will also get its first close look. Before it leaves, the moons of the gas planet will also be studied.

Dr. Robert Furquhar explained that the boost is known as a gravity assist maneuver. What it does essentially is that the piano-sized space probe will enter the gravitational neighborhood of Jupiter, whiz by it in a few months and come right out carrying a greater velocity than when it came in. However, for New Horizons to accelerate, the planet must decelerate.

Approximately 1/1025 of the planet's energy will be stolen, but that doesn't matter says NASA, because the 1036 mentioned is followed by 25 zeroes, which is similar to taking away a "drop from the ocean" says Furquhar.

New Horizons will leave Jupiter at a frenetic 52,000 mph which incidentally, sets it as the record holder for the fastest-moving object ever to leave Earth. From there, it will start its trek to reach Pluto in June of 2015 before the start of the winter season in the ninth planet.

It's crucial to reach the destination before its atmosphere descends to the surface and freezes over. Pluto has an elliptical orbit unlike most of the planets, which makes for its different revolution pattern. Once New Horizons reaches Pluto, it will take photos and analyze the atmosphere and terrain, then proceed to an analysis of the three moons.