August 5, 2026
When the Husker Rocketry team was preparing to finally launch their rocket at the International Rocket Engineering Competition (IREC) in Midland, Texas, this summer, they were feeling a little tense.
Despite one year of preparation, one test launch and countless tweaks to their designs, they still knew that anything could happen when it came time to launch鈥攊ncluding catastrophe. They didn鈥檛 yet know that, after the two and a half minutes that comprised their rocket's time in the air was over, they鈥檇 place 7th in the competition out of 141 schools and 4th in their division.
鈥淚t鈥檚 so stressful because, despite all the prep we鈥檇 done up to that point, we just can never predict exactly what鈥檚 going to happen,鈥� Caleb says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e just waiting to see if it鈥檚 all going to work.鈥�
The last-minute tweaks the team of 17 Huskers were making the right up until their launch didn鈥檛 help their nerves, but they did help their results. Those results came in front of hundreds of other student teams from around the world, plus industry professionals in attendance.
鈥淲e had a perfect flight and perfect recovery, too. Our rocket landed not even a quarter mile from the launch site, so it was great. It's so gratifying and relieving to see all your work pay off.鈥�
That work for this year鈥檚 competition began right after last year鈥檚 ended. Guided by College of Engineering professors and industry mentors, the Husker Rocketry team spends months on their designs.
鈥淲e use so much data that we collect to make all our decisions,鈥� Caleb explains. 鈥淲e had one test flight in May at UNL鈥檚 Haskell Ag Lab, and that went really well. Some industry mentors were there with us and suggested ways we could improve our aerodynamics. We took all that into account, and I think that really helped us at the actual competition.鈥�
For Caleb, who serves as both the lead of Husker Rocketry鈥檚 Avionics Team and the president of the UNL Aerospace Club 鈥� which encompasses Husker Rocketry as well as other engineering teams 鈥� the competition also feels like a test-run for his dream career.
鈥淚'm a big space geek and I really want to work in space engineering, so being able to build a rocket as a team of students is super, super cool to me. When we鈥檙e at the actual launch site in Texas, you feel like you鈥檙e in your own mini mission control center. It makes you feel like this career is really possible.鈥�
Caleb Hans is a senior computer engineering and robotics engineering major from Omaha, NE.