MCP TypeScript NASA Server

A TypeScript-based MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides seamless integration with NASA's public APIs, enabling AI assistants to access space and astronomy data including APOD, Mars rover photos, Near-Earth Objects, space weather, and Earth imagery.

🌟 Features

• 🚀 5 NASA API Tools: APOD, Mars Rovers, NEO Feed, DONKI Space Weather, EPIC Earth Imagery

• 📚 Resources Support: Access NASA data via URI-based resources (static & dynamic)

• 💬 Prompts Templates: Pre-built prompts for education and analysis

• 📦 NPX Ready: Run instantly with npx mcp-ts-stdio-nasa

• 🔧 Type-Safe: Full TypeScript implementation with Zod validation

• 🎯 MCP Compliant: Full Model Context Protocol specification support

• ⚡ Easy Setup: Works with Claude Desktop and other MCP clients

• 🔑 API Key Support: Use your own NASA API key or the demo key

Related MCP server: NASA API Desktop Extension

🚀 Quick Start

Run with NPX (Recommended - No Installation Required)

npx mcp-ts-stdio-nasa

This command downloads and runs the latest version directly from npm.

Install Globally

npm install -g mcp-ts-stdio-nasa
mcp-ts-stdio-nasa

Install as Dependency

npm install mcp-ts-stdio-nasa

🔧 Configuration

Claude Desktop Setup

Add this configuration to your Claude Desktop config file:

MacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nasa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-ts-stdio-nasa"],
      "env": {
        "NASA_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

Create a .env file in your project root:

# NASA API Configuration
NASA_API_KEY=your_api_key_here  # Get from https://api.nasa.gov/
# Use "DEMO_KEY" for testing with rate limits

# Optional
DEBUG=false  # Enable debug logging

🛠️ Available Tools

1. nasa_apod - Astronomy Picture of the Day

Get NASA's daily featured astronomy image with detailed explanation.

Parameters:

• date (optional): Date in YYYY-MM-DD format

Example Query:

"Show me NASA's astronomy picture from January 1, 2024"

2. nasa_mars_rover_photos - Mars Rover Photography

Fetch photos from Mars rovers including Curiosity, Opportunity, Spirit, and Perseverance.

Parameters:

• rover: Rover name (curiosity, opportunity, spirit, perseverance)

• sol (optional): Martian day

• earth_date (optional): Earth date in YYYY-MM-DD

• camera (optional): Camera type (FHAZ, RHAZ, NAVCAM, etc.)

• limit: Maximum photos to return (1-25)

Example Query:

"Get recent photos from Perseverance rover's navigation camera"

3. nasa_neo_feed - Near Earth Objects

Track asteroids and comets passing near Earth.

Parameters:

• start_date (optional): Start date in YYYY-MM-DD

• end_date (optional): End date in YYYY-MM-DD

Example Query:

"Show me potentially hazardous asteroids passing Earth this week"

4. nasa_donki_space_weather - Space Weather Events

Monitor solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and other space weather phenomena.

Parameters:

• event_type: Event type (FLR, SEP, CME, IPS, MPC, GST, RBE)

• start_date (optional): Start date

• end_date (optional): End date

Event Types:

• FLR: Solar Flare

• SEP: Solar Energetic Particle

• CME: Coronal Mass Ejection

• IPS: Interplanetary Shock

• MPC: Magnetopause Crossing

• GST: Geomagnetic Storm

• RBE: Radiation Belt Enhancement

Example Query:

"Check for solar flares in the last week"

5. nasa_epic_earth_imagery - Earth Polychromatic Imaging

Get full-disc Earth images from the DSCOVR satellite.

Parameters:

• image_type: natural or enhanced

• date (optional): Date in YYYY-MM-DD

• limit: Maximum images (1-20)

Example Query:

"Show me recent full Earth images from space"

📚 Resources

Resources provide direct access to NASA data via URIs:

Static Resources

• nasa://config - NASA API configuration and status

• nasa://missions/current - List of current NASA missions

• nasa://neo/today - Today's Near-Earth Objects

Dynamic Resources (with URI templates)

• nasa://apod/{date} - APOD for specific date (e.g., nasa://apod/2024-01-15)

• nasa://rover/{rover}/latest - Latest photos from Mars rovers

Example Usage:

"Read the resource nasa://apod/2024-12-25"
"Show me nasa://rover/perseverance/latest"

💬 Prompts

Pre-configured prompts for common NASA data queries:

1. explain-apod - Educational APOD Explanation

Parameters:

• date (optional): YYYY-MM-DD format

• audience (optional): child, student, or expert

Example:

"Use the explain-apod prompt for today with audience set to child"

2. space-weather-report - Space Weather Analysis

Parameters:

• days (optional): 1-7 days to analyze

• focus (optional): solar-flares, cme, geomagnetic, or all

Example:

"Generate a space-weather-report for the last 3 days focusing on solar flares"

3. asteroid-analysis - NEO Risk Assessment

Parameters:

• timeframe (optional): today, week, or month

• hazardous_only (optional): true/false

Example:

"Run asteroid-analysis for this week with hazardous_only true"

📝 Status

✅ Published and Working - The package has been successfully published to npm and tested with Claude Desktop.

• Latest Version: 0.2.0

• npm Package: mcp-ts-stdio-nasa

• Installation: Works via npx, global install, or as a dependency

💻 Development

Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/jezweb/mcp-ts-stdio-nasa.git
cd mcp-ts-stdio-nasa

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

# Run in development mode
npm run dev

Scripts

• npm run build - Build TypeScript to JavaScript

• npm run clean - Clean build artifacts

• npm run dev - Watch mode for development

• npm run lint - Run ESLint

• npm run format - Format with Prettier

• npm run mcp:inspect - Test with MCP Inspector

Testing with MCP Inspector

npm run build
npm run mcp:inspect

This opens the MCP Inspector for interactive testing of all tools.

📚 Project Structure

mcp-ts-stdio-nasa/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts           # Main server entry point
│   ├── tools/             # NASA API tool implementations
│   │   ├── apod.tool.ts
│   │   ├── mars-rover.tool.ts
│   │   ├── neo.tool.ts
│   │   ├── donki.tool.ts
│   │   └── epic.tool.ts
│   ├── services/          # NASA API service layer
│   │   └── nasa.service.ts
│   ├── types/             # TypeScript type definitions
│   │   └── nasa.ts
│   └── utils/             # Utility functions
│       ├── config.ts
│       └── logger.ts
├── dist/                  # Compiled JavaScript
├── docs/                  # Documentation
├── package.json
└── tsconfig.json

🌐 NASA API Information

This server uses NASA's public APIs. You can:

• Use DEMO_KEY for testing (limited rate)

• Get a free API key at https://api.nasa.gov/

• Most endpoints allow 1000 requests/hour with an API key

API Documentation

• NASA API Portal

• APOD API

• Mars Rover Photos API

• NEO API

• DONKI API

• EPIC API

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository

2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)

3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')

4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)

5. Open a Pull Request

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• NASA for providing public APIs

• Anthropic for the MCP specification

• Model Context Protocol community

📧 Contact

Author: Jez (Jeremy Dawes)
Email: jeremy@jezweb.net
Website: www.jezweb.com.au

🔗 Links

• NPM Package

• GitHub Repository

• Issue Tracker

Made with ❤️ for the space and AI communities