Next year, you will be able to stand on the surface of Mars  and see the planet’s arid surface for yourself, NASA promises.

The space agency is to launch a virtual reality version of the Red Planet in March 2016, based on data from the Curiosity Rover.

It’s just one of several high-profile virtual environments slated to launch next year - such as a virtual Mount Everest - timed to coincide with the launch of headsets such as the Oculus Rift.

NASA showed off a preview version - a virtual 3D environment on Mars, accessed using Microsoft’s Hololens, and built using Curiosity data.

Next year, the ‘virtual’ Mars will be available to the general public - free.

It will launch for VR headsets such as Google Cardboard, Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR in the first quarter of next year.

‘Beyond practical uses for training, virtual reality offers us a compelling method to share the work we’ve been doing to design sustainable human missions and to inspire the next generation of pioneers in space,’ says Jason Crusan, director of NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems Division.

‘We’re grateful for the opportunity to bring FUSION’s virtual experience as close to reality as we know it based on years of Mars surface architecture studies.’