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 Mastra AI 9 tools — connect in under 2 minutes

Name: NASA
Availability: InStock
Author: Vinkius

docs.mastra.ai/docs/agents/mcp-tools

Built by Vinkius GDPR 9 Tools SDK

Mastra AI is a TypeScript-native agent framework built for modern web stacks. Connect NASA through the Vinkius and Mastra agents discover all tools automatically — type-safe, streaming-ready, and deployable anywhere Node.js runs.

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 { Agent } from "@mastra/core/agent";
import { createMCPClient } from "@mastra/mcp";
import { openai } from "@ai-sdk/openai";

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

  const tools = await mcpClient.getTools();
  const agent = new Agent({
    name: "NASA Agent",
    instructions:
      "You help users interact with NASA " +
      "using 9 tools.",
    model: openai("gpt-4o"),
    tools,
  });

  const result = await agent.generate(
    "What can I do with NASA?"
  );
  console.log(result.text);
}

main();

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* 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.

Mastra's agent abstraction provides a clean separation between LLM logic and NASA tool infrastructure. Connect 9 tools through the Vinkius and use Mastra's built-in workflow engine to chain tool calls with conditional logic, retries, and parallel execution — deployable to any Node.js host in one command.

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 Mastra AI 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 Mastra AI via MCP

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

Install dependencies

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

Replace the token

Replace [YOUR_TOKEN_HERE] with your Vinkius token

Run the agent

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

Explore tools

Mastra discovers 9 tools from NASA via MCP

Why Use Mastra AI with the NASA MCP Server

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

Mastra's agent abstraction provides a clean separation between LLM logic and tool infrastructure — add NASA without touching business code

Built-in workflow engine chains MCP tool calls with conditional logic, retries, and parallel execution for complex automation

TypeScript-native: full type inference for every NASA tool response with IDE autocomplete and compile-time checks

One-command deployment to any Node.js host — Vercel, Railway, Fly.io, or your own infrastructure

NASA + Mastra AI Use Cases

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

Automated workflows: build multi-step agents that query NASA, process results, and trigger downstream actions in a typed pipeline

SaaS integrations: embed NASA as a first-class tool in your product's AI features with Mastra's clean agent API

Background jobs: schedule Mastra agents to query NASA on a cron and store results in your database automatically

Multi-agent systems: create specialist agents that collaborate using NASA tools alongside other MCP servers

NASA MCP Tools for Mastra AI (9)

These 9 tools become available when you connect NASA to Mastra AI 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