The article presents information related to author Ray Bradbury. Bradbury was recently honored by U.S. President George W. Bush with a National Medal of Arts. When Bradbury wrote the first stories that would develop into the book "The Martian Chronicles," the U.S. was just beginning to feel chills of the Cold War. Set at the dawn of the 21st Century, Bradbury's tales chronicled man's arrival on and colonization of Mars.