Apollo 10 was an essential mission in NASA's Apollo program, serving as a "dress rehearsal" for the first Moon landing. Apollo 10 was launched from Kennedy Space Center using a Saturn V rocket. It performed a successful translunar injection to head towards the Moon. Apollo 10 played a critical role in ensuring the success of Apollo 11, the first mission to land humans on the Moon. It validated the performance of the Lunar Module, the operations of the Command and Service Module, and the procedures and techniques needed for the Moon landing.