NASA Open APIs

How to Use This API

1. Astronomy Picture of the Day

https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod?api_key=DEMO_KEY

Returns the APOD for today: title, explanation, image URL (or video URL for video-of-the-day), date, and copyright. Add date=2026-06-01 for a specific date.

2. Mars Rover Photos — Curiosity

https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/curiosity/photos?sol=1000&api_key=DEMO_KEY

Returns photos taken on the 1000th Martian sol (day). Each photo has a URL, camera name, and Earth date. Replace sol with earth_date=2026-06-16.

3. Near-Earth Object (Asteroid) Feed

https://api.nasa.gov/neo/rest/v1/feed?start_date=2026-06-10&end_date=2026-06-16&api_key=DEMO_KEY

Lists all asteroids passing near Earth within the date range, with size, velocity, miss distance, and hazard assessment.

4. JavaScript — APOD Wallpaper Fetcher

async function getAPOD(date = null) {
  let url = 'https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod?api_key=DEMO_KEY';
  if (date) url += `&date=${date}`;
  
  const resp = await fetch(url);
  const data = await resp.json();
  return {
    title: data.title,
    explanation: data.explanation,
    imageUrl: data.hdurl || data.url,
    mediaType: data.media_type,
    copyright: data.copyright
  };
}

getAPOD('2026-06-01').then(apod => {
  console.log(apod.title);
  console.log(apod.explanation.substring(0, 100) + '...');
});

5. Python — Mars Rover Photo Gallery

import requests

KEY = 'DEMO_KEY'

def get_mars_photos(sol=1000, camera=None):
    url = ('https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/'
           'rovers/curiosity/photos')
    params = {'sol': sol, 'api_key': KEY}
    if camera:
        params['camera'] = camera
    resp = requests.get(url, params=params)
    photos = resp.json()['photos']
    
    for p in photos[:5]:
        print(f"Photo #{p['id']}: {p['img_src']}")
        print(f"  Camera: {p['camera']['full_name']}")
        print(f"  Earth date: {p['earth_date']}")

get_mars_photos(sol=1000, camera='navcam')