Research and public data

api.nasa.gov

Updated Apr 28, 2026

NASA APIs - Scraping & Data Extraction

Notes an AI agent reads before it works on api.nasa.gov: what to open, what to call, what breaks. Written by browser-harness contributors after real runs, and kept on GitHub under the MIT license.

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Start the task with this line. The Markdown version is the same notes without the page around them.

Read https://browser-use.com/skills/nasa.md, then <your task>

Browser Harness

Save the files into your workspace and turn domain skills on. The code below calls its helpers, such as http_get and js. What Browser Harness is.

d="${BH_AGENT_WORKSPACE:-$HOME/.config/browser-harness/agent-workspace}/domain-skills/nasa"
mkdir -p "$d" && cd "$d"
curl -sLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/browser-use/browser-harness/main/agent-workspace/domain-skills/nasa/scraping.md
export BH_DOMAIN_SKILLS=1

https://api.nasa.gov - open NASA data APIs. Never use the browser. All endpoints return JSON via http_get. DEMO_KEY works for low-volume use; register for a free personal key at https://api.nasa.gov/ to raise limits.

Do this first

All api.nasa.gov endpoints share the same rate-limit pool under DEMO_KEY. EPIC and Exoplanet Archive are on separate domains with no rate limit.

import json
from helpers import http_get
 
# Simplest call: today's Astronomy Picture of the Day
apod = json.loads(http_get("https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod?api_key=DEMO_KEY"))
print(apod['date'], apod['title'], apod['media_type'])
# Confirmed output (2026-04-18): 2026-04-18 PanSTARRS and Planets image

Use DEMO_KEY for exploration. Switch to a personal key for any bulk work - DEMO_KEY hits its limit at ~10 req/hour/IP (daily budget around 50; retry-after header will show ~22 hours when exhausted).

Rate limits

Key type	Limit	Resets
`DEMO_KEY`	10 req/hour, ~50/day per IP	Hourly window; daily hard stop with `retry-after` ~22h
Personal key (free)	1,000 req/hour	Hourly window

Rate limit headers on every api.nasa.gov response:

X-Ratelimit-Limit - your current window limit (e.g. 10)
X-Ratelimit-Remaining - calls left this window
Retry-After - seconds until next window (only on 429)

EPIC (epic.gsfc.nasa.gov) and Exoplanet Archive (exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu) share no rate-limit pool with api.nasa.gov.

Common workflows

APOD - single day

import json
from helpers import http_get
 
apod = json.loads(http_get("https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod?api_key=DEMO_KEY"))
print(apod['date'])        # '2026-04-18'
print(apod['title'])       # 'PanSTARRS and Planets'
print(apod['media_type'])  # 'image' or 'video'
print(apod['url'])         # full-res or YouTube embed URL
print(apod['hdurl'])       # HD image URL (absent when media_type='video')
print(apod.get('copyright'))  # None if public domain
# Confirmed output (2026-04-18):
# url:   https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2604/PanstarrsPlanetsPerrotLab1024.jpg
# hdurl: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2604/PanstarrsPlanetsPerrot.jpg
# copyright: Luc Perrot

APOD - date range (array response)

import json
from helpers import http_get
 
apods = json.loads(http_get(
    "https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod"
    "?start_date=2024-01-01&end_date=2024-01-07&api_key=DEMO_KEY"
))
# Returns a list of 7 dicts — same schema as single-day response
for a in apods:
    print(a['date'], a['media_type'], a['title'][:50])
# Confirmed output (7 items):
# 2024-01-01 image NGC 1232: A Grand Design Spiral Galaxy
# 2024-01-02 image Rocket Transits Rippling Moon
# 2024-01-03 image A SAR Arc from New Zealand
# 2024-01-04 image Zeta Oph: Runaway Star
# 2024-01-05 image Trapezium: At the Heart of Orion
# 2024-01-06 video The Snows of Churyumov-Gerasimenko
# 2024-01-07 image The Cat's Eye Nebula in Optical and X-ray

Optional params: date=YYYY-MM-DD (specific day), count=N (N random entries), thumbs=true (include thumbnail_url for video entries).

APOD - random sample

import json
from helpers import http_get
 
apods = json.loads(http_get(
    "https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod?count=5&api_key=DEMO_KEY"
))
for a in apods:
    print(a['date'], a['title'][:40])
# Returns 5 random APOD entries — dates can be any day since 1995-06-16

NEO - Near Earth Objects feed

import json
from helpers import http_get
 
data = json.loads(http_get(
    "https://api.nasa.gov/neo/rest/v1/feed"
    "?start_date=2024-01-01&end_date=2024-01-02&api_key=DEMO_KEY"
))
print(data['element_count'])   # 32 (total NEOs across both days)
neos = data['near_earth_objects']  # dict keyed by date string
for date, objects in sorted(neos.items()):
    for neo in objects:
        ca = neo['close_approach_data'][0]
        print(
            neo['name'],
            'hazardous:', neo['is_potentially_hazardous_asteroid'],
            'miss km:', ca['miss_distance']['kilometers'][:12],
            'vel kph:', ca['relative_velocity']['kilometers_per_hour'][:10]
        )
# Confirmed output (2 days, 32 total NEOs):
# 415949 (2001 XY10) hazardous: False miss km: 50452409.34 vel kph: 57205.8951
# (22+ more objects per day)

NEO object fields:

id, name, nasa_jpl_url - identity
estimated_diameter - dict with kilometers, meters, miles, feet sub-dicts, each with min/max
is_potentially_hazardous_asteroid - bool
close_approach_data[0] - close_approach_date, miss_distance (au/lunar/km/mi), relative_velocity (km/s, km/h, mph), orbiting_body

Date range is capped at 7 days per request. For longer ranges, paginate with start_date / end_date in 7-day steps. links.next in the response gives the next 7-day window URL.

NEO - single asteroid lookup

import json
from helpers import http_get
 
# Asteroid ID comes from the feed's `id` field
neo = json.loads(http_get(
    "https://api.nasa.gov/neo/rest/v1/neo/2415949?api_key=DEMO_KEY"
))
print(neo['name'])
print(neo['orbital_data']['orbit_class']['orbit_class_description'])
# Full orbital history + all close approaches are in `close_approach_data` (long list)

Mars Rover photos - Curiosity by sol

import json
from helpers import http_get
 
# sol = Martian solar day since landing
data = json.loads(http_get(
    "https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/curiosity/photos"
    "?sol=1000&api_key=DEMO_KEY"
))
photos = data['photos']
print(f"Photos on sol 1000: {len(photos)}")
p = photos[0]
print(p['earth_date'])          # '2015-05-30'
print(p['img_src'])             # direct JPEG URL
print(p['camera']['name'])      # 'FHAZ'
print(p['camera']['full_name']) # 'Front Hazard Avoidance Camera'
print(p['rover']['name'])       # 'Curiosity'
print(p['rover']['status'])     # 'active'
print(p['rover']['max_sol'])    # highest sol with photos
 
# Filter by camera
data = json.loads(http_get(
    "https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/curiosity/photos"
    "?sol=1000&camera=navcam&api_key=DEMO_KEY"
))

Available cameras for Curiosity: fhaz, rhaz, mast, chemcam, mahli, mardi, navcam. Other rovers: opportunity, spirit, perseverance.

Use latest_photos to get the most recent available:

data = json.loads(http_get(
    "https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/curiosity/latest_photos"
    "?api_key=DEMO_KEY"
))
photos = data['latest_photos']

Add &page=N for pagination (25 photos/page by default).

EPIC - Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera

EPIC images are served from epic.gsfc.nasa.gov - no api_key required, no rate limit.

import json
from helpers import http_get
 
# Latest available images (natural color)
images = json.loads(http_get("https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/api/natural"))
print(f"Latest batch: {len(images)} images")  # Confirmed: 4 images on 2026-04-18
 
img = images[0]
print(img['identifier'])               # '20260416162050'
print(img['image'])                    # 'epic_1b_20260416162050'
print(img['date'])                     # '2026-04-16 16:16:01'
print(img['centroid_coordinates'])     # {'lat': 13.25, 'lon': -75.59}
 
# Construct PNG URL from image name + date
date_str = img['date'].split(' ')[0]   # '2026-04-16'
year, month, day = date_str.split('-')
png_url = f"https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive/natural/{year}/{month}/{day}/png/{img['image']}.png"
jpg_thumb = f"https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive/natural/{year}/{month}/{day}/thumbs/{img['image']}.jpg"
print(png_url)
# Confirmed: https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive/natural/2026/04/16/png/epic_1b_20260416162050.png

# Images for a specific date
images = json.loads(http_get("https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/api/natural/date/2024-01-15"))
print(len(images))   # 14 images on 2024-01-15
 
# Enhanced (color-corrected) images — same API, different path
enhanced = json.loads(http_get("https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/api/enhanced/date/2024-01-15"))
# Enhanced image URL pattern uses 'enhanced' and 'epic_RGB_' prefix:
img = enhanced[0]
date_str = img['date'].split(' ')[0]
year, month, day = date_str.split('-')
url = f"https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive/enhanced/{year}/{month}/{day}/png/{img['image']}.png"
# e.g. .../archive/enhanced/2024/01/15/png/epic_RGB_20240115005515.png
 
# All available dates
all_dates = json.loads(http_get("https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/api/natural/all"))
print(f"Available dates: {len(all_dates)}")  # 3477 dates (2015-06-13 to present)
print(all_dates[0])   # {'date': '2026-04-16'}  (newest first)
print(all_dates[-1])  # {'date': '2015-06-13'}  (oldest)

Exoplanet Archive - TAP/ADQL queries

No API key or rate limit. SQL-like ADQL queries over the full archive.

import json
from helpers import http_get
 
# Short-period planets with known radii
planets = json.loads(http_get(
    "https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/TAP/sync"
    "?query=select+pl_name,hostname,pl_orbper+from+ps+where+pl_orbper+%3C+10"
    "&format=json"
))
print(f"Rows: {len(planets)}")      # 17675 (table 'ps' includes duplicate measurements)
print(planets[0])
# {'pl_name': 'GJ 1214 b', 'hostname': 'GJ 1214', 'pl_orbper': 1.58040482}

# Use 'pscomppars' for one row per planet (composite best-estimate params)
planets = json.loads(http_get(
    "https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/TAP/sync"
    "?query=select+pl_name,hostname,disc_year,discoverymethod,pl_orbper,pl_rade,pl_masse,pl_eqt,sy_dist"
    "+from+pscomppars+where+disc_year+%3E+2020+and+pl_rade+is+not+null"
    "+order+by+disc_year+desc"
    "&format=json&maxrec=5"
))
for p in planets:
    print(p['pl_name'], p['disc_year'], p['discoverymethod'], f"r={p['pl_rade']}Re")
# Confirmed output:
# KMT-2024-BLG-1870L b 2026 Microlensing r=13.8Re
# LHS 1903 b 2026 Transit r=1.382Re
# TOI-375 d 2026 Radial Velocity r=13.6Re

Key tables:

ps - all measurements per planet (multiple rows per planet, all sources)
pscomppars - one row per confirmed planet (best composite parameters)

Key columns: pl_name, hostname, disc_year, discoverymethod, pl_orbper (orbital period, days), pl_rade (radius in Earth radii), pl_masse (mass in Earth masses), pl_eqt (equilibrium temp K), sy_dist (distance in parsec).

URL-encode operators: < = %3C, > = %3E, spaces = +.

URL reference

api.nasa.gov endpoints

Endpoint	URL pattern
APOD today	`https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod?api_key=KEY`
APOD by date	`...&date=YYYY-MM-DD`
APOD range	`...&start_date=YYYY-MM-DD&end_date=YYYY-MM-DD`
APOD random N	`...&count=N`
NEO feed	`https://api.nasa.gov/neo/rest/v1/feed?start_date=...&end_date=...&api_key=KEY`
NEO by ID	`https://api.nasa.gov/neo/rest/v1/neo/{id}?api_key=KEY`
Mars photos by sol	`https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/{rover}/photos?sol=N&api_key=KEY`
Mars photos by date	`...?earth_date=YYYY-MM-DD&api_key=KEY`
Mars latest	`https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/{rover}/latest_photos?api_key=KEY`

EPIC (epic.gsfc.nasa.gov - no key, no rate limit)

Endpoint	URL
Latest natural images	`https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/api/natural`
Natural by date	`https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/api/natural/date/YYYY-MM-DD`
Enhanced latest	`https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/api/enhanced`
Enhanced by date	`https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/api/enhanced/date/YYYY-MM-DD`
All available dates	`https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/api/natural/all`
PNG image	`https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive/natural/YYYY/MM/DD/png/{image}.png`
Thumbnail (JPEG)	`https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive/natural/YYYY/MM/DD/thumbs/{image}.jpg`
Enhanced PNG	`https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/archive/enhanced/YYYY/MM/DD/png/{image}.png`

Exoplanet Archive (no key, no rate limit)

https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/TAP/sync?query=<ADQL>&format=json&maxrec=<N>

Gotchas

DEMO_KEY limit is effectively 10/hour per IP, not 30 - The X-Ratelimit-Limit header shows 10 in practice. When the daily budget (~50 req) is exhausted, the retry-after header is set to ~80,000 seconds (about 22 hours). Register a free personal key at https://api.nasa.gov/ to get 1,000/hour.
All api.nasa.gov paths share one rate-limit pool - APOD, NEO, Mars Rover, and all other api.nasa.gov paths draw from the same DEMO_KEY bucket. Calling any one of them depletes the limit for all others.
EPIC and Exoplanet Archive are fully free - epic.gsfc.nasa.gov returns no rate-limit headers and is not throttled. exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/TAP/sync is similarly unrestricted. Use these freely without fear of exhausting DEMO_KEY.
NEO date range max is 7 days - Requests spanning more than 7 days return HTTP 400. Paginate with 7-day windows and use links.next from the response to get the next URL.
APOD earliest date is 1995-06-16 - Requesting date before 1995-06-16 returns HTTP 400 with an error message. No upper date bound other than today.
APOD hdurl is absent for video entries - When media_type is video, the response has url (a YouTube embed URL) but no hdurl. Always check media_type before accessing hdurl.
Mars Rover sol vs earth_date - Both are valid filter params. sol is the Martian solar day since rover landing. earth_date uses YYYY-MM-DD. You cannot mix them in one request.
Mars Rover pagination defaults to 25 photos/page - Large sols (Curiosity sol 1000 has many photos) require &page=2, &page=3, etc. There is no total count in the response; keep paginating until you get an empty photos list.
EPIC image name encodes type in the prefix - Natural images use epic_1b_ prefix; enhanced color-corrected images use epic_RGB_ prefix. The API returns the correct filename in img['image']; don't guess the prefix.
EPIC /api/natural/all returns newest-first - The list of 3,477+ available dates starts from today and goes back to 2015-06-13. Not all days have images (gaps during spacecraft maintenance).
Exoplanet ps table has multiple rows per planet - Different publications report different measurements for the same planet. Use pscomppars for one-row-per-planet composite parameters. ps is useful when you need all reported values or want to filter by specific reference.
Exoplanet null values come back as None in JSON - Many fields like pl_masse are null for planets without mass measurements. Always guard with if row['pl_masse'] is not None.
http_get in helpers.py uses stdlib urllib - On some macOS Python 3.11 installs, SSL certificate verification fails (CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED). If you hit this, run curl via subprocess as a fallback, or install certifi and patch the default SSL context. The harness's browser CDP connection is not affected; only http_get is.

scraping.md · updated Apr 28, 2026 · 1,727 words

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