The long-awaited first piece of Mass Effect DLC is now just around the corner - BioWare has today announced that the “Bring Down the Sky” DLC will hit Xbox LIVE Marketplace on March 10 and will include around 90 minutes worth of new gameplay. To get this “heart-pounding” piece of sci-fi goodness, you’ll have to depart with 400 Microsoft Points. Achievement hunters will also be happy to know that the DLC will bring a new Achievement worth 50 Gamerscore. For two screens from the DLC, hit our Mass Effect gallery.

Here’s what to expect: “Bring Down the Sky includes a new uncharted world that introduces the notorious and feared alien race of the Batarians. A Batarian extremist group has hijacked a mobile asteroid station in the Asgard system, setting it on a collision course with the nearby colony world of Terra Nova. Only Commander Shepard can save the millions of innocent civilians before the asteroid completes its deadly descent.”

BioWare promises that this is just the first in a series of upcoming new content “that further expands the Mass Effect universe and continues the adventures of Commander Shepard and the Normandy crew.” If BioWare manages to continue the “$5 = 90 min of new gameplay” formula, they’ll likely make a pretty penny off the DLC’s, right up until Mass Effect 2 is released.

[See also: Mass Effect gallery]