By Joel Schlotterer, Developer, Mobomo January 22, 2025
The Context: Overcoming Complexity to Build NASA’s Next-Gen Science Platform
One year ago, I joined Mobomo to support NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and its public-facing platform, science.nasa.gov. This site serves as a vital counterpart to www.nasa.gov, NASA’s flagship site, which houses broader agency information. Together, these platforms form a cohesive ecosystem, with science.nasa.gov acting as a highly specialized offshoot dedicated to NASA’s scientific missions and discoveries.
I joined during a period of contract transition—a time of both opportunity and challenge. The existing architecture, though technically innovative, was cumbersome and fragmented, creating barriers to collaboration and limiting the platform’s ability to grow alongside NASA’s needs.
Our team approached this project by stripping the problem down to its most fundamental components, asking:
- What is this platform’s core purpose?
- What’s preventing it from achieving that purpose?
At its heart, the platform needed to efficiently communicate NASA’s science while enabling flexibility, scalability, and collaboration. With massive volumes of data and content to manage, any solution had to ensure precision while remaining nimble.
The Challenge: Overcomplicated Architecture
At the center of science.nasa.gov’s challenges was a decoupled architecture: a Vue.js frontend communicating with a WordPress backend via REST API calls. While this design was initially chosen for flexibility, it introduced significant challenges over time:
- Duplicative Development: Adopting new features from www.nasa.gov required additional layers of development in Vue, slowing progress and driving up costs.
- Barriers to Collaboration: The decoupled setup required specialized technical knowledge, limiting external developers’ ability to contribute effectively.
- Scale of Complexity: The vast codebase magnified the maintenance burden of technical debt, further slowing innovation and iteration.
In contrast, www.nasa.gov was built on a native WordPress architecture that served as a kind of parent app—a foundational codebase that could be extended and customized for specific use cases, like science.nasa.gov. However, because of the decoupled architecture, science.nasa.gov couldn’t fully benefit from the shared ecosystem.
The disconnect was holding SMD back. It became clear that simplicity was the path forward.
The Recommendation: Rebuilding on a Shared Foundation
By returning to first principles, we identified the fundamental inefficiencies in the system. The solution wasn’t just to simplify—it was to rebuild science.nasa.gov as a fully native WordPress application, aligning it with the architecture of www.nasa.gov to unlock shared functionality and scalability.
This approach offered significant advantages:
- Instant Feature Reuse: By treating www.nasa.gov as a “parent app,” SMD could adopt new features—like forms or media tools—without duplicative development.
- Reduced Codebase: Refactoring eliminated over two-thirds of the existing code, simplifying maintenance while improving scalability and functionality.
- Broader Accessibility: Native WordPress’s extensive documentation and community support lowered barriers for external developers to contribute.
- Expanded Features: Re-coupling immediately unlocked prebuilt tools like custom blocks developed by the www.nasa.gov team, as well as custom post types and templates.
By demonstrating the tangible time and cost savings—such as integrating forms in days instead of months—we secured the necessary buy-in to move forward with this bold transformation.
The Refactoring Process: Building for Simplicity and Scalability
Refactoring science.nasa.gov into a native WordPress application took six months of methodical, collaborative effort. However, the process wasn’t without its hurdles. For example, handling the unique HTML requirements embedded within the science data proved challenging, as they were not fully supported by the parent site’s architecture. Our team had to implement custom escaping functions, similar to WordPress’s kses filtering, to address this issue while maintaining data integrity.
1. Rebuilding Core Features
Rather than blindly porting existing functionality, we re-engineered features with a focus on simplicity and alignment with the parent app. This approach reduced redundancy while maintaining the platform’s unique needs.
2. Empowering Customization
We introduced a robust customization framework using hooks and dynamic templating. This gave developers the flexibility to create custom content without relying on new templates or post types, avoiding unnecessary complexity in the admin interface.
3. Streamlining Workflows
We improved admin/frontend parity, making the platform more intuitive for non-technical users. Additionally, we centralized issue tracking into a JIRA board, replacing scattered emails and SharePoint files with a well-organized Agile workflow.
Despite reducing the codebase by over two-thirds, we expanded the platform’s feature set and scalability—proving that simplicity and functionality are not mutually exclusive.
The Release: Demonstrating the Power of Simplicity in Action
The release of the new science.nasa.gov platform was a moment of both pride and learning. Like many launches of this scale, it wasn’t without its challenges. During post-release testing, several bugs were identified—four of which were significant enough to require immediate attention.
However, the simplified, single-app architecture proved to be a game-changer. Instead of getting bogged down in complex workflows or time-intensive processes, our team was able to quickly identify, address, and deploy fixes. In fact, we delivered three post-release deployments on the very first day—each one resolving key issues without disrupting the user experience.
This experience underscored the practical advantages of the leaner system. By reducing complexity and creating a more cohesive framework, we’ve equipped NASA’s Science Mission Directorate with a platform that’s not only easier to maintain but also far more agile in the face of real-world challenges.
The Results: A Platform Built for Growth
The impact of this transformation was profound:
- Faster Feature Integration: Features like forms, which previously took months to implement, could now be deployed in days—saving the equivalent of one full-time engineer’s workload annually and significantly accelerating project timelines.
- Improved Collaboration: The simplified architecture enabled external teams to contribute more effectively.
- Enhanced Usability: Non-technical users gained a more intuitive and efficient admin interface.
- Boosted Performance: Initial testing showed a 40-point improvement in Google PageSpeed scores for mobile, jumping from 29 to 69. This significant performance gain not only enhances the user experience on mobile devices but also provides a strong foundation for future optimization efforts.
- Future-Proof Scalability: The platform is now better equipped to evolve alongside NASA’s mission, supporting both massive data volumes and new functionality.
These results show how aligning with a shared foundation not only streamlined operations but also set the stage for long-term growth and innovation.
Reflection: First Principles Thinking in Action
This project reinforced the power of returning to first principles. By breaking down the problem to its core elements, we were able to question assumptions and design a solution that prioritized simplicity, scalability, and alignment.
The success of this transformation wasn’t just in the technical execution—it was in reframing the challenge itself. By viewing www.nasa.gov as a parent app rather than a separate entity, we unlocked a foundation for shared innovation.
From adhering to NASA’s rigorous security standards to implementing complex integrations like Adobe Asset Management (DAM), every step of this journey demonstrated the value of thoughtful design and collaboration.
Looking back, this transformation proved that reducing complexity isn’t just about making things easier—it’s about creating the conditions for innovation to thrive.
Takeaway: Simplicity as a Catalyst for Growth
Refactoring science.nasa.gov was a lesson in how first principles thinking can transform even the most complex systems. By questioning assumptions, aligning with a shared foundation, and prioritizing simplicity, we unlocked a platform capable of supporting NASA’s mission far into the future.
For anyone tackling large-scale digital transformation, the lesson is clear: reduce complexity, build on what works, and always focus on the core purpose.
About Mobomo, LLC
Mobomo, a private company headquartered in the D.C. metro area, is a CMMI Dev Level 3, ISO 9005:2015, and CMMC Level 1 provider of digital transformation system integration services. A premier provider of mobile, web, infrastructure, and cloud applications to federal agencies and large enterprises, Mobomo combines leading-edge technology with human-centered design and strategy to craft next generation digital experience. From private sector companies to government agencies, we have amassed deep expertise helping our clients enhance and expand their existing web and mobile suite. Interested in learning more about Mobomo? Take a tour of our capabilities, our portfolio of work, the team members who make our clients look so fantastic, and feel free to reach out with any questions you might have.
