The surface area of a rectangular prism is calculated by adding up the areas of all six faces of the prism.
The top and bottom faces each have an area of 10 inches * 9 inches = 90 square inches.
The front and back faces each have an area of 10 inches * 3 inches = 30 square inches.
The left and right faces each have an area of 9 inches * 3 inches = 27 square inches.
Adding up all these areas gives a total surface area of 2(90) + 2(30) + 2(27) = 180 + 60 + 54 = 294 square inches.
Therefore, the surface area of the rectangular prism is 294 square inches.