The spectacular new Mission Mars exhibit is now open at Space Center Houston, Texas.

The immersive experience provides in-depth information about the red planet and offers an opportunity to peer inside an Orion spacecraft research model and walk on a virtual Mars environment.

Planning, design and project management of the multimillion-dollar attraction was completed by US-based Jack Rouse Associates, in association with experts from NASA.

“This new major exhibit will inspire the next generation of explorers who could one day walk on Mars,” said William Harris, president and CEO of the science and space learning centre.

“Visitors will explore what it takes to travel to Mars, the hardware that will get us to the fourth planet in our solar system and how humans may live and conduct research on the red planet in future decades.”

The Mission Mars exhibit follows on from the success of Space Center Houston’s award-winning Independence Plaza area, which opened in January 2016 and helped the facility reach a record annual attendance of more than one million visitors.