On August 5, the spacecraft Curiosity landed on Mars after traveling 356 million miles in seven months time. The landing was one of the most difficult in NASA’s history and required slowing the spacecraft from about 13,000 miles per hour, to 1.5 miles per hour in about seven minutes. Due to the time delay, Curiosity had to lower itself onto the red planet without real-time help from its designers and controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. As we now know, Curiosity worked flawlessly and began phoning home almost immediately.

But here’s the problem. The next morning, when I read The New York Times, there was no mention of this astounding accomplishment involving sky cranes and autonomous navigation systems, sophisticated software and computers, and a truly amazing level of engineering prowess. Recalling my own experience working at the Times, and my experience with print deadlines, I looked on the iPad edition of the paper to read about the landing. Here too, unfortunately, I found no mention of this achievement.

There were, of course, articles about the conflict in Syria, the fund raising activities of the presidential candidates, and coverage of scandals regarding interest rates – all worthy subjects to cover. But why nothing about one of humanity’s most dazzling achievements? After all, it’s not every day people send a probe on a 356 million mile, seven month stroll with no purpose other than increasing our understanding.

War, a thwarted terrorism plot, murder in the Midwest, and money laundering were all in the paper. But life is about more than problems. It is also about human accomplishment, creativity and invention.

We need to keep track of what’s wrong and what’s dangerous. But when a moment takes place when knowledge triumphs over skepticism and doubt, and human beings stretch themselves beyond what was thought possible, we need to celebrate – at least for a moment. It’s not everyday that a spacecraft, made by human hands, releases a sky crane and lowers itself onto another planet. In fact, if you ask me, that’s real news.