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 Google ADK 9 tools — connect in under 2 minutes

Name: NASA
Availability: InStock
Author: Vinkius

google.github.io/adk-docs/tools/mcp-tools

Built by Vinkius GDPR 9 Tools SDK

Google Agent Development Kit (ADK) is Google's framework for building production AI agents. Add NASA as an MCP tool provider through the Vinkius and your ADK agents can call every tool with full schema introspection.

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.

python

from google.adk.agents import Agent
from google.adk.tools.mcp_tool import McpToolset
from google.adk.tools.mcp_tool.mcp_session_manager import (
    StreamableHTTPConnectionParams,
)

# Your Vinkius token — get it at cloud.vinkius.com
mcp_tools = McpToolset(
    connection_params=StreamableHTTPConnectionParams(
        url="https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp",
    )
)

agent = Agent(
    model="gemini-2.5-pro",
    name="nasa_agent",
    instruction=(
        "You help users interact with NASA "
        "using 9 available tools."
    ),
    tools=[mcp_tools],
)

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Stream every event to Splunk, Datadog, or your own webhook in real-time

* Every MCP server runs on Vinkius-managed infrastructure inside AWS - a purpose-built runtime with per-request V8 isolates, Ed25519 signed audit chains, and sub-40ms cold starts optimized for native MCP execution. See our infrastructure

About NASA MCP Server

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

Google ADK natively supports NASA as an MCP tool provider — declare the Vinkius Edge URL and the framework handles discovery, validation, and execution automatically. Combine 9 tools with Gemini's long-context reasoning for complex multi-tool workflows, with production-ready session management and evaluation built in.

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 Google ADK 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 Google ADK via MCP

Follow these steps to integrate the NASA MCP Server with Google ADK.

Install Google ADK

Run pip install google-adk

Replace the token

Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your Vinkius token

Create the agent

Save the code above and integrate into your ADK workflow

Explore tools

The agent will discover 9 tools from NASA via MCP

Why Use Google ADK with the NASA MCP Server

Google ADK provides unique advantages when paired with NASA through the Model Context Protocol.

Google ADK natively supports MCP tool servers — declare a tool provider and the framework handles discovery, validation, and execution

Built on Gemini models, ADK provides long-context reasoning ideal for complex multi-tool workflows with NASA

Production-ready features like session management, evaluation, and deployment come built-in — not bolted on

Seamless integration with Google Cloud services means you can combine NASA tools with BigQuery, Vertex AI, and Cloud Functions

NASA + Google ADK Use Cases

Practical scenarios where Google ADK combined with the NASA MCP Server delivers measurable value.

Enterprise data agents: ADK agents query NASA and cross-reference results with internal databases for comprehensive analysis

Multi-modal workflows: combine NASA tool responses with Gemini's vision and language capabilities in a single agent

Automated compliance checks: schedule ADK agents to query NASA regularly and flag policy violations or configuration drift

Internal tool platforms: build self-service agent platforms where teams connect their own MCP servers including NASA

NASA MCP Tools for Google ADK (9)

These 9 tools become available when you connect NASA to Google ADK 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 Google ADK

Ready-to-use prompts you can give your Google ADK 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 Google ADK

Common issues when connecting NASA to Google ADK through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.

McpToolset not found

Update: pip install --upgrade google-adk

NASA + Google ADK FAQ

Common questions about integrating NASA MCP Server with Google ADK.

How does Google ADK connect to MCP servers?

Import the MCP toolset class and pass the server URL. ADK discovers and registers all tools automatically, making them available to your agent's tool-use loop.

Can ADK agents use multiple MCP servers?

Yes. Declare multiple MCP tool providers in your agent configuration. ADK merges all tool schemas and the agent can call tools from any server in a single turn.

Which Gemini models work best with MCP tools?

Gemini 2.0 Flash and Pro models both support function calling required for MCP tools. Flash is recommended for latency-sensitive use cases, Pro for complex reasoning.