The Northern Ireland teens learning how to build a rocket

Each of the rockets held a raw egg that had to remain in one piece throughout the experiment

Teenagers are often given advice to aim high or shoot for the stars.

So let's hear it for the young people taking that advice literally, by taking part in the Northern Ireland schools rocketry competition.

It was held on a World War Two airfield on the shores of Lough Neagh.

Part of the challenge was to ensure that what went up - to a height of more than 800ft - also came down more or less one piece.

Pupils from about a dozen schools from across Northern Ireland took part, including sixth-formers Leah and Abigail from Ballymena Academy.

To compete, the students had to manufacture and launch a rocket.

"Since September we've been designing and coming up with plans for it and for the past month we've been manufacturing a rocket in school," Leah told BBC News NI.

More boys take school subjects in Science, Engineering, Maths and Technology (STEM), but that made Leah and Abigail more determined.

"There weren't many girls in our team at school, it was all boys doing all the engineering and I was interested in it," Leah said.

"I just thought it would be interesting to learn how rockets work and how to put it together."

Leah and Abigail said there are not many girls involved in STEM-related competitions

'It caught on fire'

Abigail said it was a positive experience, but that there are often more boys involved in STEM subjects than girls.

"It's sort of male-dominated and maybe that puts other girls off doing it," she said.

"There's only one other girl in my physics class.

"It is very interesting - there's a lot of problem-solving and thinking involved.

The event was held on a World War Two airfield on the shores of Lough Neagh

"It's not boring anyway."

Abigail, Leah and the Ballymena team did suffer a bit of a setback when the 5-4-3-2-1 countdown began for their launch.

"It caught on fire whenever we went to launch it," Abigail said.

But neither girl is going to be deterred from trying again.

"We've already speculated a few ideas of why it might have happened," Abagail continued.

"We're going to look into what the cause was and fix it for the next time."

Two of the competitors in Northern Ireland's rocketry competition

The aim of the competition is for pupils to build a rocket that is capable of reaching a height of 820ft when launched and can stay in the air for about 45 seconds.

The rocket had to carry a raw egg, which must not be broken in flight or when the rocket returns to earth.

So each team had to build a parachute into their craft, which would open when gravity took over.

The team from Friends' School in Lisburn were satisfied at how they fared in getting their rocket off the ground and then back down again.

"The contest has all been about inspiring young people to try a bit of engineering," sixth former Finn told BBC News NI.

"Our rockets seem to go quite well. They got up to the correct height and they didn't explode, which is always good," he said.

"For the most part, they were pretty intact and the egg survived."

And the most important lesson Finn had learned from the process of building a rocket?

"Don't leave things to the last minute," he said.

Pupils from Friends' School in Lisburn won the competition

Matthew from Friends' was also pretty happy with how the competition had gone.

"The most important thing was planning - you have to plan far ahead and get sponsorship and all the parts need to arrive.

"It takes a very long time, especially for motors to arrive.

"It's quite a complex task but I've really enjoyed learning things."

He added: "I was actually very nervous, and I think my whole team felt it as it was a lot of work we'd put into it."

But for Finn and Matthew, the hard work paid off as Friends' rocket won the Northern Ireland competition.

They are now hoping for more stellar success in the UK rocketry final in June.