1981
March
Paul J. Coleman Jr. is named USRA President.
March 18
The first LPSC Chili Cook-Off and BBQ is held on the LPI grounds.
April 14
The first shuttle mission, STS-1, ends with the successful landing of Columbia at Edwards Air Force Base. The first shuttle astronaut debriefing was held at the LPI over the next two days.
October 19–22
The Conference on Large Body Impacts and Terrestrial Evolution: Geological, Climatological, and Biological Implications is held in Snowbird, Utah. The first of what will come to be simply known as the “Snowbird Conferences,” the conference represents a defining moment in the impact-extinction hypothesis debate.
November 12–17
The first meeting of the Early Crustal Genesis of Terrestrial Planets Study Project is held at the LPI.