NASA MCP Server for LlamaIndex 9 tools — connect in under 2 minutes
LlamaIndex specializes in data-aware AI agents that connect LLMs to structured and unstructured sources. Add NASA as an MCP tool provider through the Vinkius and your agents can query, analyze, and act on live data alongside your existing indexes.
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Vinkius supports streamable HTTP and SSE.
import asyncio
from llama_index.tools.mcp import BasicMCPClient, McpToolSpec
from llama_index.core.agent.workflow import FunctionAgent
from llama_index.llms.openai import OpenAI
async def main():
# Your Vinkius token — get it at cloud.vinkius.com
mcp_client = BasicMCPClient("https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp")
mcp_tool_spec = McpToolSpec(client=mcp_client)
tools = await mcp_tool_spec.to_tool_list_async()
agent = FunctionAgent(
tools=tools,
llm=OpenAI(model="gpt-4o"),
system_prompt=(
"You are an assistant with access to NASA. "
"You have 9 tools available."
),
)
response = await agent.run(
"What tools are available in NASA?"
)
print(response)
asyncio.run(main())
* 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.
LlamaIndex agents combine NASA tool responses with indexed documents for comprehensive, grounded answers. Connect 9 tools through the Vinkius and query live data alongside vector stores and SQL databases in a single turn — ideal for hybrid search, data enrichment, and analytical workflows.
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 LlamaIndex 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 LlamaIndex via MCP
Follow these steps to integrate the NASA MCP Server with LlamaIndex.
Install dependencies
Run pip install llama-index-tools-mcp llama-index-llms-openai
Replace the token
Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your Vinkius token
Run the agent
Save to agent.py and run: python agent.py
Explore tools
The agent discovers 9 tools from NASA
Why Use LlamaIndex with the NASA MCP Server
LlamaIndex provides unique advantages when paired with NASA through the Model Context Protocol.
Data-first architecture: LlamaIndex agents combine NASA tool responses with indexed documents for comprehensive, grounded answers
Query pipeline framework lets you chain NASA tool calls with transformations, filters, and re-rankers in a typed pipeline
Multi-source reasoning: agents can query NASA, a vector store, and a SQL database in a single turn and synthesize results
Observability integrations show exactly what NASA tools were called, what data was returned, and how it influenced the final answer
NASA + LlamaIndex Use Cases
Practical scenarios where LlamaIndex combined with the NASA MCP Server delivers measurable value.
Hybrid search: combine NASA real-time data with embedded document indexes for answers that are both current and comprehensive
Data enrichment: query NASA to augment indexed data with live information before generating user-facing responses
Knowledge base agents: build agents that maintain and update knowledge bases by periodically querying NASA for fresh data
Analytical workflows: chain NASA queries with LlamaIndex's data connectors to build multi-source analytical reports
NASA MCP Tools for LlamaIndex (9)
These 9 tools become available when you connect NASA to LlamaIndex 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 LlamaIndex
Ready-to-use prompts you can give your LlamaIndex 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 LlamaIndex
Common issues when connecting NASA to LlamaIndex through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.
BasicMCPClient not found
pip install llama-index-tools-mcpNASA + LlamaIndex FAQ
Common questions about integrating NASA MCP Server with LlamaIndex.
How does LlamaIndex connect to MCP servers?
Can I combine MCP tools with vector stores?
Does LlamaIndex support async MCP calls?
Connect NASA with your favorite client
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Anthropic's agentic CLI for terminal-first development.
Python SDK for building production-grade OpenAI agent workflows.
Google's framework for building production AI agents.
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TypeScript toolkit for building AI-powered web applications.
TypeScript-native agent framework for modern web stacks.
Python framework for orchestrating collaborative AI agent crews.
Leading Python framework for composable LLM applications.
Data-aware AI agent framework for structured and unstructured sources.
Microsoft's framework for multi-agent collaborative conversations.
Connect NASA to LlamaIndex
Get your token, paste the configuration, and start using 9 tools in under 2 minutes. No API key management needed.