How to Use the NASA Mars — Rover Photos from the Red Planet MCP in Google ADK

Q: How do I connect the NASA Mars — Rover Photos from the Red Planet server to an agent using Google ADK?

After you pip install google-adk, you'll create an McpToolset using the server URL from Vinkius. Pass that toolset to your agent, and it will be able to call all the Mars rover tools.

Q: Can my Google ADK agent use the NASA Mars — Rover Photos from the Red Planet server to find pictures from a specific camera?

Yes. The getmarsphotos tool accepts a camera argument. Your agent can request images from any of Curiosity's cameras, like the Mastcam (MAST) or ChemCam (CHEMCAM).

Q: Is it better to query by sol or Earth date?

It depends on your goal. Querying by sol with getmarsphotos is more precise for scientific work, but getmarsphotosbydate is often easier for general browsing. Your agent can use either tool.

Connect Google ADK agents to 800,000+ Mars rover photos and analyze the data with BigQuery and Gemini.

See Vinkius in Action

Works with every AI agent you already use

…and any MCP-compatible client

MCP Servers - Free for Subscribers

Connect NASA Mars — Rover Photos from the Red Planet MCP to Google ADK

Create your Vinkius account to connect NASA Mars — Rover Photos from the Red Planet to Google ADK and route execution through our secure gateway. The platform manages server hosting, runtime updates, and security layers. Configuration requires no manual server provisioning.

GDPR Free for Subscribers

Setup NASA Mars — Rover Photos from the Red Planet with Google ADK

Ask AI about this MCP

ChatGPT

Claude

Perplexity

Query Mars Data for Gemini Models

The Google ADK loads this MCP server's tools so your Gemini-powered agent can reason over the entire history of Mars exploration. Use the `get_mars_manifest` tool to give the model the full context of a rover's mission before asking it to plan a series of queries. With Gemini's large context window, an agent can hold the details for Curiosity, Spirit, and Opportunity all at once. It can then intelligently use `get_mars_photos` or `get_mars_photos_by_date` to find specific scientific events across different missions.

Integrate Rover Photos with BigQuery

This is more than just looking at pictures. Your agent can use `get_mars_photos` to fetch metadata for thousands of images—like the sol, camera, and Earth date—and write that data directly into a BigQuery table. From there, you can join it with other public datasets. This is the real power of a flexible MCP architecture, letting you correlate Martian dust storms from rover images with solar flare data, all orchestrated by a single agent on Google Cloud.

Enterprise-Ready MCP Server on Google Cloud

Running the Google ADK on your cloud infrastructure means this MCP server just becomes another toolset your agents can access. There's no complex auth to manage; it fits right into your existing project. You can filter which tools are exposed, so one agent might only have access to `get_mars_latest` for a public dashboard, while a research agent gets the full suite of tools for deep analysis. It's secure and manageable.

Setup guide

Set up NASA Mars — Rover Photos from the Red Planet MCP in Google ADK

Prerequisites

Python 3.10+ installed
google-adk package (pip install google-adk)
Active Vinkius subscription with a valid endpoint token

1

Install Google ADK

Run pip install google-adk to install the Agent Development Kit. MCP support is included via the McpToolset class.
2

Connect via SSE transport

Use McpToolset.from_server() with SseServerParams pointing to your Vinkius endpoint. Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your token from cloud.vinkius.com.
3

Create an LlmAgent

Pass the returned mcp_tools list directly to LlmAgent(tools=mcp_tools). The ADK maps each MCP tool to a native Gemini function call — no manual schema definitions required.
4

Run with any Gemini model

The agent works with any Gemini model (gemini-2.0-flash, gemini-2.5-pro, etc.). Copy the full example on the right to get started with NASA Mars — Rover Photos from the Red Planet tools in your ADK agent.

agent.py

from google.adk.agents import LlmAgent
from google.adk.tools.mcp_tool.mcp_toolset import McpToolset
from google.adk.tools.mcp_tool.mcp_session_manager import SseServerParams

# Connect to the MCP via SSE
mcp_tools, exit_stack = await McpToolset.from_server(
    connection_params=SseServerParams(
        url="https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
    )
)

# Create your agent with auto-discovered tools
agent = LlmAgent(
    name="NASA Mars — Rover Photos from the Red Planet_agent",
    model="gemini-2.0-flash",
    instruction="You have access to NASA Mars — Rover Photos from the Red Planet tools via MCP.",
    tools=mcp_tools,
)

Get your connection token →

Independent Platform Disclaimer: Vinkius is an independent platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, verified by, or otherwise authorized by NASA. All third-party trademarks, logos, and brand names are the property of their respective owners. Their use on this website is strictly for informational purposes to identify service compatibility and interoperability.

Why Choose Vinkius

Vinkius connects your tools to AI with real-time monitoring and automatic cost savings — all from one dashboard.

Connect NASA Mars — Rover Photos from the Red Planet now

Real-time monitoring

Live

visibility into every interaction

Connect your favorite tools to your AI and see exactly what's happening — every request, every response, in real time.

Built-in savings

60%

lower AI costs

Vinkius compresses data between your apps and your AI automatically. Lower bills every month — no configuration required.

Single dashboard

One

place for every integration

Every tool your AI connects to, managed from a single screen. One account, complete control.

Common questions about NASA Mars — Rover Photos from the Red Planet MCP in Google ADK

After you `pip install google-adk`, you'll create an `McpToolset` using the server URL from Vinkius. Pass that toolset to your agent, and it will be able to call all the Mars rover tools.

Yes. The `get_mars_photos` tool accepts a `camera` argument. Your agent can request images from any of Curiosity's cameras, like the Mastcam (MAST) or ChemCam (CHEMCAM).

It depends on your goal. Querying by sol with `get_mars_photos` is more precise for scientific work, but `get_mars_photos_by_date` is often easier for general browsing. Your agent can use either tool.

Absolutely. The server provides the tools, and your Google ADK agent, powered by any Gemini model, invokes them to get the data it needs. It works great for summarizing mission manifests or finding photos that match complex criteria.

Only the parameters for your Mars photo queries—like rover name, sol, or date—are sent. This MCP server acts as a managed gateway to the public NASA API, fitting within your Google Cloud security posture without storing any of your project's private data.

Use it with your favorite AI tools

Connect this server to Cursor, Claude, VS Code, and more.

OpenAI Agents SDK sdk-python

Google ADK sdk-python

Pydantic AI sdk-python

Vercel AI SDK sdk-typescript