NASA MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides access to NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) API. This server exposes tools that can be used by AI assistants like Cursor to fetch NASA's daily space images.

Features

• NASA Picture of the Day: Fetch today's or any historical NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

• Current Date: Get the current date in ISO format

• Easy Integration: Simple setup for Cursor and other MCP-compatible clients

Related MCP server: space-mcp-server

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18 or higher)

• npm or yarn

• A NASA API key (free at api.nasa.gov)

Installation

1. Clone or navigate to this repository:

cd ts_mcp

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Create a .env file in the root directory:

NASA_API_KEY=your_nasa_api_key_here

You can get a free NASA API key by visiting api.nasa.gov and generating one.

Building

Build the TypeScript project:

npm run build

Or use the MCP-specific build command:

npm run build:mcp

For development with watch mode:

npm run dev

Running the Server

Start the MCP server:

npm start

The server runs using stdio (standard input/output) communication, which is required for MCP protocol.

Integrating with Cursor

To use this MCP server with Cursor, you need to add it to your Cursor settings:

1. Open Cursor Settings:

   • Press Ctrl+, (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+, (Mac)

   • Or go to File > Preferences > Settings

2. Search for "MCP" or navigate to the MCP settings section

3. Add a new MCP server configuration. The configuration should look like this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nasa-mcp-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "C:\\code\\MCP\\ts_mcp\\dist\\index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "NASA_API_KEY": "your_nasa_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Important Notes:

• Replace C:\\code\\MCP\\ts_mcp\\dist\\index.js with the absolute path to your built index.js file

• Make sure you've built the project first (npm run build)

• Replace your_nasa_api_key_here with your actual NASA API key

• On Windows, use double backslashes (\\) or forward slashes (/) in the path

• On Mac/Linux, use forward slashes in the path

Alternative: Using npm script

You can also configure Cursor to run the server via npm:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nasa-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npm",
      "args": [
        "start"
      ],
      "cwd": "C:\\code\\MCP\\ts_mcp",
      "env": {
        "NASA_API_KEY": "your_nasa_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Usage

Once integrated with Cursor, you can use the MCP tools in your conversations:

Get Today's NASA Picture

Get today's NASA picture of the day

Get a Specific Date's Picture

Get the NASA picture from 2026-01-31

Example Result:

• Title: Artemis I: Flight Day 13

• URL: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2601/art001e000672-orig1024c.jpg

Get Current Date

What's today's date?

Available Tools

nasaPicOfDayTool

Fetches the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day for a specific date or today.

Parameters:

• date (optional): Date in YYYY-MM-DD format. If not provided, defaults to today.

Returns:

• title: The title of the image

• date: The date of the image

• url: URL to the image

• explanation: Explanation of the image

getCurrentDate

Gets the current date in ISO format.

Returns:

• Current date as an ISO string

Project Structure

ts_mcp/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts              # Main MCP server entry point
│   └── tools/
│       ├── nasaPicOfTheDay.ts # NASA APOD tool implementation
│       └── getCurrentDate.ts  # Current date tool implementation
├── dist/                      # Compiled JavaScript output
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── .env                       # Environment variables (not in git)

Development

Scripts

• npm run build - Compile TypeScript to JavaScript

• npm run build:mcp - Build with tsup for MCP distribution

• npm run dev - Watch mode for development

• npm start - Run the compiled server

Dependencies

• @mastra/mcp - MCP server framework

• @mastra/core - Core tooling utilities

• axios - HTTP client for API requests

• zod - Schema validation

• dotenv - Environment variable management

Troubleshooting

Server won't start

• Make sure you've built the project: npm run build

• Verify your .env file exists and contains NASA_API_KEY

• Check that Node.js is installed and in your PATH

Cursor can't find the server

• Verify the path in Cursor settings is correct and absolute

• Ensure the dist/index.js file exists after building

• Restart Cursor after changing MCP settings

• Check Cursor's developer console for error messages

API errors

• Verify your NASA API key is valid

• Check your internet connection

• Ensure the date format is YYYY-MM-DD if providing a date

License

ISC

Resources

• NASA APOD API Documentation

• Model Context Protocol

• Cursor Documentation