MCP server that provides access to public NASA APIs for obtaining astronomical images, Mars rover photos, Earth satellite imagery, and near-Earth object data with built-in image analysis capabilities.

Installation

PyPI

pip install nasa-mcp-server

UVX

uvx nasa-mcp-server

Configuration

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "nasa-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["nasa-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "NASA_API_KEY": "YOUR_NASA_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nasa-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["nasa-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "NASA_API_KEY": "YOUR_NASA_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

Tool	Description
get_apod	Retrieve Astronomy Picture of the Day with descriptions, supports date ranges and random images
get_mars_image	Access Mars rover photos with various camera options and date filtering
get_neo_feed	Retrieve near-Earth object data and asteroid approach information
get_earth_image_tool	Obtain Earth satellite imagery from NASA's DSCOVR satellite using the EPIC camera
get_gibs_image	Access high-quality Earth satellite imagery from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services
get_gibs_layers	Retrieve information about all available GIBS image layers and their capabilities
get_image_analyze	Load and analyze images from URLs with automatic processing and base64 conversion for LLM analysis

Features

• Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) with daily astronomical images and descriptions
• Mars rover images with various camera options and date filtering
• Near-Earth object (NEO) data with asteroid and approach information
• Earth imagery (EPIC) from NASA's DSCOVR satellite
• GIBS satellite imagery with high-quality Earth snapshots
• GIBS layer information for available satellite data sets
• Image analysis tool with automatic format detection, compression, and base64 conversion
• Comprehensive error handling for API timeouts and invalid parameters

Environment Variables

Required

• NASA_API_KEY - NASA API key for accessing public NASA APIs

Usage Examples

Get today's astronomy picture

Show me Mars rover images from January 15, 2024

Find asteroids approaching Earth in the next 7 days

Get satellite images of the USA

Show me enhanced color Earth images

Notes

Requires Python 3.8+ and a free NASA API key from https://api.nasa.gov/. The image analysis tool returns imagecontent format, which is currently supported only in Claude 4. The maximum date range for NEO data is 7 days according to NASA API limitations.