Once the payload has launched, it still needs to be recovered. It's out there in the desert somewhere! Recovery takes place at first light for payloads launched during the night.
The payload is passively and actively tracked by radar during flight, so NASA has a good idea of where it will have landed. All launch parameters and data are fed into a model that predicts the landing zone with a certain degree of confidence, so the searchers have a good idea of where to look. The parachute is also colored a highly-visible orange to assist in spotting.
Two black hawk helicopters are dispatched from a nearby airbase. One goes directly to search for the payload, while the second picks up the science recovery team before following.
Once the payload is located, the helicopters land far enough away that the parachute can't get tangled in their rotors. One person wraps and stows the parachute, while the others begin breaking the payload into two pieces, taking pictures and assessing damages as they go. The first pieces to be removed are the S19 guidance system fins, which typically are given out as honor trophies to those most involved in the mission.
The separated sections are rolled onto carrying racks and are moved to the helicopters and secured. With the rocket safely stashed, both teams fly home.
Nose cones and second-stage motors are bonuses. Sometimes a helicopter will launch one rocket but return with three different nose cones, each coming from a different decade.
Both the ride out and back pass directly over White Sands National Monument, the backup space shuttle landing strip at White Sands Space Harbor, and many other mysteries of the desert and White Sands Missile Range. It's an amazing ride.
Once the payload is back to the integration building at WSMR, it is immediately cleaned, examined, and tested. Post-flight alignment checks and calibrations are often taken, and it is then shipped home to Colorado for much more thorough post-flight testing.