How do I get a NASA API key?

Visit [**api.nasa.gov**](https://api.nasa.gov) and sign up with your email — it's completely free. You'll receive an API key instantly. For quick testing, you can use `DEMO_KEY` which allows 30 requests/hour and 50/day. Registered keys get 1,000 requests/hour.

Can I get Mars rover photos from today?

Mars rovers don't take photos every Earth day due to communication delays and mission schedules. Use `get_mars_photos` with rover name 'curiosity' or 'perseverance' and an earth_date parameter. If no photos exist for that date, the API returns an empty list. Try recent dates or browse available dates with `get_mars_rovers`.

What are Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)?

NEOs are asteroids and comets whose orbits bring them close to Earth. NASA tracks them for planetary defense. Use `get_neo_feed` to see asteroid counts and data over a date range. Each NEO includes estimated diameter, velocity, miss distance, and whether it's classified as 'potentially hazardous'.

Can I search NASA's image library?

Yes! Use `search_nasa_library` with a free-text query (e.g. 'Apollo 11', 'Mars', 'ISS', 'Hubble'). It searches thousands of images, videos and audio files. Results include title, description, NASA center, media type and URL. Optionally set page number for pagination.

NASA MCP Server for Vercel AI SDK 9 tools — connect in under 2 minutes

Name: NASA
Availability: InStock
Author: Vinkius

ai-sdk.dev/docs/ai-sdk-core/mcp

Built by Vinkius GDPR 9 Tools SDK

The Vercel AI SDK is the TypeScript toolkit for building AI-powered applications. Connect NASA through the Vinkius and every tool is available as a typed function — ready for React Server Components, API routes, or any Node.js backend.

Get MCP Server for AI Agents

ASK AI ABOUT THIS MCP SERVER

Open in ChatGPT Open in Claude Open in Perplexity

Vinkius supports streamable HTTP and SSE.

typescript

import { createMCPClient } from "@ai-sdk/mcp";
import { generateText } from "ai";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";

async function main() {
  const mcpClient = await createMCPClient({
    transport: {
      type: "http",
      // Your Vinkius token — get it at cloud.vinkius.com
      url: "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp",
    },
  });

  try {
    const tools = await mcpClient.tools();
    const { text } = await generateText({
      model: openai("gpt-4o"),
      tools,
      prompt: "Using NASA, list all available capabilities.",
    });
    console.log(text);
  } finally {
    await mcpClient.close();
  }
}

main();

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About NASA MCP Server

Connect to NASA's open APIs through any AI agent and explore space science through natural conversation.

The Vercel AI SDK gives every NASA tool full TypeScript type inference, IDE autocomplete, and compile-time error checking. Connect 9 tools through the Vinkius and stream results progressively to React, Svelte, or Vue components — works on Edge Functions, Cloudflare Workers, and any Node.js runtime.

What you can do

Astronomy Picture of the Day — Fetch today's APOD or any historical image with title, explanation and media URL
Mars Rover Photos — Browse photos from Curiosity, Perseverance, Opportunity and Spirit rovers by date and camera
Earth Satellite Imagery — View Landsat 8 satellite imagery for any coordinate on Earth with date filtering
EPIC Earth Images — See full-disk Earth images from the DSCOVR satellite's Deep Space Camera
Near-Earth Objects — Track asteroids and their size, velocity and hazard rating over a date range
NASA Library Search — Search NASA's extensive image and video library with free-text queries
Patent & Technology Transfer — Search NASA patents and discover technologies available for licensing

The NASA MCP Server exposes 9 tools through the Vinkius. Connect it to Vercel AI SDK in under two minutes — no API keys to rotate, no infrastructure to provision, no vendor lock-in. Your configuration, your data, your control.

How to Connect NASA to Vercel AI SDK via MCP

Follow these steps to integrate the NASA MCP Server with Vercel AI SDK.

Install dependencies

Run npm install @ai-sdk/mcp ai @ai-sdk/openai

Replace the token

Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your Vinkius token

Run the script

Save to agent.ts and run with npx tsx agent.ts

Explore tools

The SDK discovers 9 tools from NASA and passes them to the LLM

Why Use Vercel AI SDK with the NASA MCP Server

Vercel AI SDK provides unique advantages when paired with NASA through the Model Context Protocol.

TypeScript-first: every MCP tool gets full type inference, IDE autocomplete, and compile-time error checking out of the box

Framework-agnostic core works with Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, or any Node.js runtime — same NASA integration everywhere

Built-in streaming UI primitives let you display NASA tool results progressively in React, Svelte, or Vue components

Edge-compatible: the AI SDK runs on Vercel Edge Functions, Cloudflare Workers, and other edge runtimes for minimal latency

NASA + Vercel AI SDK Use Cases

Practical scenarios where Vercel AI SDK combined with the NASA MCP Server delivers measurable value.

AI-powered web apps: build dashboards that query NASA in real-time and stream results to the UI with zero loading states

API backends: create serverless endpoints that orchestrate NASA tools and return structured JSON responses to any frontend

Chatbots with tool use: embed NASA capabilities into conversational interfaces with streaming responses and tool call visibility

Internal tools: build admin panels where team members interact with NASA through natural language queries

NASA MCP Tools for Vercel AI SDK (9)

These 9 tools become available when you connect NASA to Vercel AI SDK via MCP:

get_apod

If no date is specified, returns today's APOD. Optionally specify a single date, a date range (start_date and end_date), or a count of random APODs. Returns the image/video URL, title, explanation, copyright and date. This is one of NASA's most popular APIs. Get NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)

get_earth_imagery

Requires longitude and latitude coordinates. Optionally specify a date (YYYY-MM-DD) to get imagery from a specific time. Returns the image URL and metadata. Useful for viewing geographic changes over time. Get satellite imagery of Earth from NASA

get_epic_images

Optionally specify a date (YYYY-MM-DD) and whether to use enhanced-color images (true) or natural-color (false, default). Returns image URLs, coordinates and acquisition time. Get Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) images from NASA

get_mars_photos

Optionally filter by Earth date (YYYY-MM-DD), camera type (FHAZ, RHAZ, MAST, CHEMCAM, MAHLI, MARDI, NAVCAM, PANCAM, MINITES), and page number. Each photo includes the image URL, rover name, camera, Earth date and Mars sol date. Get Mars Rover photos from NASA

get_mars_rovers

Useful for discovering which rovers are active and when they last took photos. Get information about NASA Mars rovers

get_neo_feed

Optionally specify a start and end date (YYYY-MM-DD, max 7 days range). Returns asteroid count per day, estimated diameters, velocity, and whether they are potentially hazardous. Great for space awareness and planetary defense tracking. Get Near-Earth Object (NEO) feed from NASA

get_tech_transfer

Optionally filter by category (software, patent). Returns descriptions, contact information and availability status. Get NASA technology transfer information

search_nasa_library

Accepts a free-text query and returns matching media with titles, descriptions, NASA center information and media type (image, video, audio). Optionally set page number for pagination. This is the primary search endpoint for NASA media assets. Search the NASA Image and Video Library

search_patents

Requires a search query. Returns patent titles, numbers, abstracts and licensing availability. Useful for technology transfer and commercialization research. Search NASA patents

Example Prompts for NASA in Vercel AI SDK

Ready-to-use prompts you can give your Vercel AI SDK agent to start working with NASA immediately.

"Show me today's Astronomy Picture of the Day."

"Show me photos taken by the Perseverance rover on Mars."

"Are there any potentially hazardous asteroids approaching Earth this week?"

Troubleshooting NASA MCP Server with Vercel AI SDK

Common issues when connecting NASA to Vercel AI SDK through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.

createMCPClient is not a function

Install: npm install @ai-sdk/mcp

NASA + Vercel AI SDK FAQ

Common questions about integrating NASA MCP Server with Vercel AI SDK.

How does the Vercel AI SDK connect to MCP servers?

Import createMCPClient from @ai-sdk/mcp and pass the server URL. The SDK discovers all tools and provides typed TypeScript interfaces for each one.