As a matter of fact, the Orion spacecraft is designed on the same concept and looks very much like the somewhat enlarged Apollo.
The principal difference is that while Apollo carried three astronauts to the Moon, the bigger Orion is supposed to carry four astronauts to Mars.
This first launch was performed on board of the Delta IV Heavy rocket. In the future, Orion will launch on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System. It is expected to be more powerful than any rocket ever built, at least in its final configuration.
It is worth noting the Elon Musk's statement about his SpaceX new rocket expected to be launched in 2015: “Falcon Heavy will carry more payload to orbit or escape velocity than any vehicle in history, apart from the Saturn V moon rocket, which was decommissioned after the Apollo program". Mr. Musk has to study history of space flight better. While his Falcon Heavy should be able to carry 53 ton to low Earth orbit, Energia heavy lift launcher was able to carry up to 100 ton.
