Consolidating 200+ NASA websites into one unified, high-performing platform.
THE CLIENT – NASA
NASA is the United States government agency responsible for the nation’s civilian space program and aeronautics and aerospace research.
Our Results
1 Billion
More organic impressions (123% increase)
17 Million
additional user interactions
2.5 Million+
URLs Consolidated
Challenge
Modernizing 200+ legacy NASA websites under a federal mandate.
A federal modernization mandate required NASA’s Science Mission Directorate to consolidate more than 200 independently built websites containing 2.5 million pages of scientific content. Spanning 30 years of technologies and structures, the sites lacked a unified strategy, making critical information difficult to discover and navigate. Commercial aggregators often outperformed NASA in search results.
Beyond technical scale, the effort required navigating complex stakeholder dynamics. Mission teams had built and maintained their sites over decades, necessitating clear, data-backed justification for change. NASA needed a partner capable of enterprise-scale technical analysis and sensitive organizational leadership.
Approach
Entity-Based Strategy Unifies NASA’s Information Architecture.
Wheelhouse analyzed all 2.5 million pages across 200 websites using patented technology, applying machine learning and natural language processing to identify content entities, map relationships, and assess quality. Custom automation consolidated content for approximately 100 high-value entities, each spanning thousands of URLs, saving more than 10,000 combined labor hours.
This entity-driven analysis supported full consolidation into a reimagined science.nasa.gov and provided the data needed to secure stakeholder alignment. Wheelhouse then led strategic integration with NASA’s primary web and CMS partners, embedding the content and search strategy into site architecture, functionality, and post-launch operations, shifting NASA from siloed sites to a unified, topic-driven ecosystem optimized for traditional and AI-powered search.
Outcomes
Modernization Delivers Record-Breaking Performance.
Following the initial site launches, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate achieved a 123% year-over-year increase in organic impressions and 17 million additional user interactions, despite only a portion of sites being consolidated.
The unified, entity-driven architecture also delivered industry-leading AI visibility. NASA SMD leads its category across major large language models with a 24% share of voice, more than four times higher than the next leading source, outperforming government peers, academic publishers, and Wikipedia. These insights were drawn from analysis of more than 100,000 AI-generated answers across leading platforms.
The modernized experience earned Webby Awards in 2024 and 2025, and Wheelhouse received NASA’s Star Award for exceptional partnership performance. NASA now operates a unified digital presence that improves scientific discovery while meeting federal modernization requirements.
