NASA
Provides standardized access to 20+ NASA data sources including astronomy pictures, Mars rover photos, near-Earth objects, satellite imagery, space weather, and planetary data through a unified interface optimized for AI consumption.
What is NASA?
NASA is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to provides standardized access to 20+ nasa data sources including astronomy pictures, mars rover photos, near-earth objects, satellite imagery, space weather, and planetary data through a unified interf...
Provides standardized access to 20+ NASA data sources including astronomy pictures, Mars rover photos, near-Earth objects, satellite imagery, space weather, and planetary data through a unified interface optimized for AI consumption.
This server falls under the Search & Data Extraction category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- Provides standardized access to 20+ NASA data sources includ
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
NPM
npx -y @programcomputer/nasa-mcp-serverManual Installation
npx -y @programcomputer/nasa-mcp-serverConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use NASA
The NASA MCP Server provides standardized access to 20+ NASA data APIs through a single unified interface, letting AI assistants retrieve astronomy pictures, Mars rover photos, near-Earth object data, space weather alerts, satellite imagery, and planetary science datasets. It connects to NASA's public API ecosystem using a single NASA_API_KEY and exposes each data source as a dedicated MCP tool, making it straightforward for coding agents or chat interfaces to query real space science data in natural language.
Prerequisites
- Node.js 18 or later installed
- A free NASA API key obtained from https://api.nasa.gov/
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code with Copilot
- npx available in your PATH (comes with Node.js)
Obtain a NASA API key
Visit https://api.nasa.gov/ and register for a free API key. The key is emailed immediately and works across all NASA Open APIs with a default rate limit of 1,000 requests per hour.
Test the server manually
Run the server directly from the command line with your API key to confirm it starts without errors before wiring it into your MCP client.
NASA_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY npx -y @programcomputer/nasa-mcp-server@latestAdd the server to your MCP client configuration
Open your MCP client's config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json for Claude Desktop) and add the nasa-mcp-server entry with your API key passed as an environment variable.
{
"mcpServers": {
"nasa": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@programcomputer/nasa-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"NASA_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}
}
}
}Restart your MCP client
Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop (or your chosen client) so it picks up the new server configuration. You should see the NASA server appear in the connected servers list.
Verify connectivity with a quick query
Ask your AI assistant for today's Astronomy Picture of the Day to confirm the server is connected and returning data from NASA.
NASA Examples
Client configuration
Add this block to your claude_desktop_config.json (macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json).
{
"mcpServers": {
"nasa": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@programcomputer/nasa-mcp-server@latest"],
"env": {
"NASA_API_KEY": "YOUR_NASA_API_KEY"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example natural-language queries that exercise the 20+ NASA data sources.
- "Show me today's Astronomy Picture of the Day and explain what I'm looking at."
- "Find all near-Earth objects passing within 0.05 AU between 2025-01-01 and 2025-01-07."
- "Get the latest photos from the Curiosity rover on Mars sol 1000."
- "What space weather alerts has NASA issued in the past week?"
- "Show EPIC satellite imagery of Earth from yesterday."Troubleshooting NASA
Server starts but returns 'DEMO_KEY rate limit exceeded' errors
The DEMO_KEY built into NASA's API is heavily rate-limited. Set your real NASA_API_KEY in the env block of the MCP config and restart the client.
npx fails with 'Cannot find package @programcomputer/nasa-mcp-server'
Ensure Node.js 18+ is installed and npm registry is reachable. Try running 'npm cache clean --force' then retry the npx command.
Mars rover photo tool returns empty results
Some sol (Martian day) values have no available images. Try a different sol value or use an Earth date parameter instead (e.g. earth_date: '2023-06-01').
Frequently Asked Questions about NASA
What is NASA?
NASA is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides standardized access to 20+ nasa data sources including astronomy pictures, mars rover photos, near-earth objects, satellite imagery, space weather, and planetary data through a unified interface optimized for ai consumption. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install NASA?
Install via npm with the command: npx -y @programcomputer/nasa-mcp-server. Then add the server configuration to your AI client's JSON config file (e.g., claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json).
Which AI clients work with NASA?
NASA works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is NASA free to use?
Yes, NASA is open source and available under the ISC License license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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Quick Config Preview
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