How to Cite the NASA Webpage in APA, MLA, or Chicago

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To infinity and beyond! Outer space has captivated our collective attention for years, and there’s no better place for aspiring astronauts to visit than the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) website.

NASA.gov is filled with fascinating facts about our solar system and space exploration. It’s the perfect place to visit for any space-related assignment, whether you’re in elementary school or college.

But how does one go about citing information found on a NASA webpage?


EasyBib.com helps you cite in the most common styles and thousands of others, too, for websites and just about any source type you can think of. There are also free guides for doing MLA in-text citations and an MLA annotated bibliography, too.


If you’ve cited a website before, you’ll be happy to know that the process for citing information from NASA is pretty similar. Even if you’ve never cited a website, it shouldn’t be too tricky—especially with our handy-dandy guide in tow!

Below, learn how to cite a NASA webpage in three commonly used citation styles: MLA, APA, and Chicago style. We’ll be using this page in the examples.

When you’re citing a website, there’s information that you’ll need to gather before you can begin. That information would be:

  1. Name of the author or page editor
  2. Title of the article/webpage
  3. Name of the website and/or publisher of the website
  4. Date published and/or modified or updated
  5. URL

 

Note that nearly all pages on the NASA.gov website have a page editor, which can be used if the page doesn’t have an author. Since most NASA.gov webpages only have a page editor and not an author, the examples below will be based on that structure. The page editor can be found by scrolling down to the bottom of any NASA.gov page and looking for the following information:

If you want to cite a NASA webpage that does have an author, you can follow the usual guidelines for citing a webpage with an individual author in MLA, APA, and Chicago styles.

Cite a NASA webpage in MLA format

For MLA-style citations, the basic format will look like this:

Title of the Webpage. Edited by Editor First Name Last Name, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Publication Date, URL.

Example:

James Webb Space Telescope Science. Edited by Rob Garner, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 3 Aug. 2017, nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/science/index.html.

In-text citation:

Here’s how the above example would be cited in an in-text citation:

(Shortened Article Title)

(James Webb Space Telescope)

Cite a NASA webpage in APA format

If you’re working in APA style, you’ll take that basic information and the citation will look something like this:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (Publication Year, Month Day). Title of webpage (Editor First Initial Last Name, Ed.). URL

Example:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2017, August 3). James Webb Space Telescope science (R. Garner, Ed.). https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/science/index.html

In-text citation:

Here’s how the above example would be cited in an in-text citation:

(National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Publication Year)

(National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2017)

Cite a NASA webpage in Chicago format

Notes-bibliography style:

For a Chicago-style citation that follows the notes-bibliography format, use the following format:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “Title of the Article.” Edited by Editor First Name Last Name. Date Updated. URL.

Example:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “James Webb Space Telescope Science.” Edited by Rob Garner. Updated August 3, 2017. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/science/index.html.

Note:

Here’s how the above example would be cited in the note:

1. “Title of the Article.” ed. Editor First Name Last Name, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, date updated, URL.

1. “James Webb Space Telescope Science,” ed. Rob Garner, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, updated August 3, 2017, https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/science/index.html.

Author-date style:

For an author-date style Chicago citation, use this format:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Publication Year. “Title of the Article.” Edited by Editor First Name Last Name. Date Updated. URL.

Example:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 2017. “James Webb Space Telescope Science.” Edited by Rob Garner. Updated August 3, 2017. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/webb/science/index.html.

In-text citation:

Here’s how the above example would be cited in the in-text citation:

(National Aeronautics and Space Administration Publication Year)

(National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2017)


Before you turn in your next paper, visit EasyBib for a free grammar check. Stuck for a paper idea? Check the EasyBib topic guides and get inspired by interesting history facts!


 

 

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