Ray Bradbury, who authored dozens of novels and scores of short stories, most notably "The Martian Chronicles'' and "Fahrenheit 451,'' attended many major space mission events at over the years.
On Nov. 12, 1971, on the eve of Mariner 9 going into oribit at Mars, Bradbury took part in a symposium at Caltech, according to the JPL website. In this excerpt from that event, Bradbury reads his poem, "If Only We Had Taller Been.'' Watch the video above.
More recently, Bradbury spoke at JPL's 5th anniversary celebration of the Mars rovers in 2009.
