Ares and Orion

As the shuttle nears its retirement age - it will be phased out by 2010 - the new transport vehicle of choice continues development. The new rocket which will carry cargo and humans into space, the moon, and eventually to Mars (so they say), is called the Ares rocket. The Ares launch vehicles and the Orion crew vehicles make up NASA's Constellation program.
The Ares rocket will serve two purposes: one kind (Ares I) will be a crew launch vehicle using a single segmented solid rocket booster similar to the kind used on the shuttle and will be able to carry 55,000 pounds into low earth orbit. The second kind (Ares V) will be a cargo vehicle, using 5 liquid oxygen/hydrogen engines and two solid rocket boosters fueled by an external fuel tank similar to the one on the shuttle. It will be able to carry 286,000 pounds into low earth orbit.
The Orion vehicle is the new crew vehicle and will be used to rendezvous with the ISS, lunar lander modules, and re-entry into earth's atmosphere. While it won't go directly to Mars, it will be used to transport the crews to the carriers built in orbit.
The design is interesting: it employs an older "tried and true" exterior design and shape, but has all state-of-the-art technology. Summaries about the constellation program vehicles can be found here:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/index.html