On Oct 19th, we (the world) will get to see the new Ares rocket! It’s part of the Constellation program and that, for the slowbies out there, is the replacement for the current Shuttle program.
Constellation consists of a bunch of different types of rockets, all of which are designed for different tasks. The shuttle can only take so much physical content up, and I think the offering of Constellation makes up for that. By that I mean there are a variety of rockets being designed for a variety of things. The Ares V, a cargo launch vehicle, will be roughly the size of the Saturn rockets that used to be front and centre of man’s exploration of the moon!
At any rate, Ares I is a fantastic first step for NASA. I’m a firm believer that space exploration is very important, granted the costs aren’t necessarily in line. But let’s be fair here. Complaining about how that budget money could be used to feed the hungry is a poor argument. Science is science, it has to be done. Costs be damned, if it wakes up the world to the importance of science then it’s worth it.
Gone are the days when I would hear my pre-grade school classmates proudly responding “I want to be an astronaut” when asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. I’d say it would be a miracle if even a single hand would go up these days. 
Go go orbit pushers.