Jared Meineke preps the AHS Rocket Team’s rocket for its first launch.

AHS Packer Rocket Team advisor Craig Knippel pulls out one of the packages containing an egg after the first launch.

Leah Meineke, right, and Christine Nelson trudge across a field after retrieving the rocket.

The Austin High School Packer Rocket Team’s rocket lifts off Tuesday evening on a plot of land south of Austin. The team was taking part in the Team America Rocketry Challenge, sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association, the National Association of Rocketry and more than 25 aerospace and defense companies.