NASA APOD API

api.nasa.gov · Science

Science API Key Free Tier Space Astronomy NASA

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day — daily space images with explanations by professional astronomers. Also includes NeoWs (near-Earth asteroids), Mars Rover photos, and Earth satellite imagery. Free API key, 1,000 req/hour.

Authentication

API Key Free API key at api.nasa.gov — takes ~5 minutes. Pass as ?api_key= query parameter. Use DEMO_KEY for testing (30 req/hour).

Sample Requests

GET Today's astronomy picture

Get today's Astronomy Picture of the Day.

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

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod?api_key=DEMO_KEY"

import requests
params = {
    "api_key": "DEMO_KEY"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod');
url.searchParams.set('api_key', 'DEMO_KEY');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("api_key", "DEMO_KEY")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "api_key" => "DEMO_KEY"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod?" . http_build_query([
    "api_key" => "DEMO_KEY"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Near-Earth asteroids

Get near-Earth asteroid data for a date range.

https://api.nasa.gov/neo/rest/v1/feed?api_key=DEMO_KEY&end_date=2026-06-10&start_date=2026-06-08

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://api.nasa.gov/neo/rest/v1/feed?api_key=DEMO_KEY&end_date=2026-06-10&start_date=2026-06-08"

import requests
params = {
    "api_key": "DEMO_KEY",
    "end_date": "2026-06-10",
    "start_date": "2026-06-08"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.nasa.gov/neo/rest/v1/feed",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.nasa.gov/neo/rest/v1/feed');
url.searchParams.set('api_key', 'DEMO_KEY');
url.searchParams.set('end_date', '2026-06-10');
url.searchParams.set('start_date', '2026-06-08');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.nasa.gov/neo/rest/v1/feed")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("api_key", "DEMO_KEY")
	q.Set("end_date", "2026-06-10")
	q.Set("start_date", "2026-06-08")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.nasa.gov/neo/rest/v1/feed")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "api_key" => "DEMO_KEY",
  "end_date" => "2026-06-10",
  "start_date" => "2026-06-08"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.nasa.gov/neo/rest/v1/feed?" . http_build_query([
    "api_key" => "DEMO_KEY",
    "end_date" => "2026-06-10",
    "start_date" => "2026-06-08"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Mars Rover photos

Get Curiosity rover photos from Mars sol 1000.

https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/curiosity/photos?sol=1000&page=1&api_key=DEMO_KEY

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/curiosity/photos?sol=1000&page=1&api_key=DEMO_KEY"

import requests
params = {
    "sol": "1000",
    "page": "1",
    "api_key": "DEMO_KEY"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/curiosity/photos",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/curiosity/photos');
url.searchParams.set('sol', '1000');
url.searchParams.set('page', '1');
url.searchParams.set('api_key', 'DEMO_KEY');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/curiosity/photos")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("sol", "1000")
	q.Set("page", "1")
	q.Set("api_key", "DEMO_KEY")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/curiosity/photos")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "sol" => "1000",
  "page" => "1",
  "api_key" => "DEMO_KEY"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.nasa.gov/mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/curiosity/photos?" . http_build_query([
    "sol" => "1000",
    "page" => "1",
    "api_key" => "DEMO_KEY"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

Postman Setup Guide

Get Postman ↗

Use DEMO_KEY for testing (30 req/hour)
Get a free key at api.nasa.gov for 1,000 req/hour
APOD: GET /planetary/apod?api_key=YOUR_KEY
Historical APOD: add &date=2024-01-15
Mars Rover: GET /mars-photos/api/v1/rovers/perseverance/photos?sol=100&api_key=YOUR_KEY

What can you build with NASA APOD API?

NASA APOD API is a Science API. Developers commonly use science APIs for:

accessing research datasets and scientific literature
powering academic and R&D applications
running scientific calculations and simulations
visualising experimental and observational data
integrating with research and reference databases

API Key authentication. You'll receive a key after signing up. Send it with every request — in a header or query parameter. Keep it out of client-side code and never commit it to version control. NASA APOD API is free to use up to a usage limit, making it a low-risk choice to experiment with.

New to APIs? Read our beginner's guide · Learn about API keys · What is REST?

Open documentation ↗