The server now ships as a single bundled file with no runtime dependencies, so it starts faster; code that imports it as a library must install @modelcontextprotocol/sdk and zod itself for its TypeScript types.

Release

• npm: @programcomputer/nasa-mcp-server@1.3.1 (latest), integrity sha512-pk0yTeU/OJIy+ONBAEMpkhs4Js/y4+5I0hW7faiQDVrlXseE9N0XPXcO+dx1D3ILUc3hJptGT8eXQrHuwXLJAw==
• Commit: 751fe24 (signed tag v1.3.1)
• Release run: https://github.com/ProgramComputer/NASA-MCP-server/actions/runs/38111858080
• Verify release run: https://github.com/ProgramComputer/NASA-MCP-server/actions/runs/38112618710
• Provenance: https://search.sigstore.dev/?logIndex=3200140548

Three new tools for the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST), NASA's archive for TESS, Hubble, JWST, Kepler and other missions. Existing tools are unchanged. The new tools need no API key and return download links rather than files, so a client can find TESS light curves and other data but cannot read the FITS files through this server.

New tools

• nasa_mast_observations: observations of a named object, a TIC ID or a sky position. For TESS (the default) it matches TESS Input Catalog stars and lists their light curves by sector: SPOC 2-minute and 20-second light curves, and high-level science product (HLSP) light curves made from full-frame images, such as QLP and TESS-SPOC. Multi-sector transit searches are shown as sector ranges and are not counted as observed sectors. Other collections (HST, JWST, Kepler, all and others) and data product types use MAST's position search, which can take a minute when MAST is busy. Its radius defaults to 60″ because recent observations of fast-moving nearby stars lie tens of arcseconds from their catalog position, and the summary counts all matches by type and instrument.
• nasa_mast_products: the files of up to 20 observations, with type, size and a download URL for each. It lists science files by default; subgroups and minimum_recommended narrow Hubble and JWST observations, which can list hundreds of files. Files still in their proprietary period are marked EXCLUSIVE_ACCESS and need a MAST token.
• nasa_tess_ffi: the TESS sectors, cameras and CCDs whose full-frame images cover a position, with sector dates and a TESSCut cutout URL (a ZIP of FITS target pixel files) for each sector.

Release

• npm: @programcomputer/nasa-mcp-server@1.3.0 (latest), integrity sha512-LgpgokO860D2TukdR1qzLwQ79d0zeGbNO0dB2sK8F1wFwjx8w2nrXxJP/hK2rAGT0uc21OaLeTRFVDDRT5KQUA==
• Commit: 62c7ae4 (signed tag v1.3.0)
• Release run: https://github.com/ProgramComputer/NASA-MCP-server/actions/runs/37872018042
• Verify release run: https://github.com/ProgramComputer/NASA-MCP-server/actions/runs/37872477077
• Provenance: https://search.sigstore.dev/?logIndex=3155010957

A migration release. APOD and DONKI moved to new upstream APIs (the old api.nasa.gov endpoints no longer return data), and nine tools were added. It is published as a minor version, but nasa_apod and nasa_donki parameters and output changed. Review the list below before upgrading, or pin 1.1.0; note that APOD and DONKI no longer work in 1.1.0.

Breaking changes and migration

• nasa_apod uses the NASA Science APOD API (science.nasa.gov/wp-json/wp/v2/apod-basic). The api.nasa.gov /planetary/apod endpoint returns HTTP 503/504 and the api.nasa.gov catalog says the legacy API goes offline on 2026-12-01. The new API needs no key, so nasa_apod, the nasa://apod/image resource template and the APOD prompts work without NASA_API_KEY.
  • count (random pictures) and thumbs are retired: the new API has no random mode or thumbnail option. Calls that pass them get a migration message.
  • date defaults to the latest published picture. Dates before 1995-06-16 or in the future are rejected before any request, and a day without a picture reports HTTP 404 clearly.
  • Titles, credits and explanations are plain text (the new API returns HTML). Video entries report the video URL and a still frame. Embedded images are 1024-pixel-wide renditions when the image host offers them.
  • The nasa://apod/image resource returns one entry object, without the upstream basic_html page.
  • The nasa/get-astronomy-picture and apod-daily prompts no longer take count or thumbs.
• nasa_donki uses the NASA CCMC DONKI API (ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/DONKI-API/get). CCMC moved the public API there on 2026-09-30, and api.nasa.gov/DONKI/* now redirects to a CCMC news page instead of returning data. The new API needs no key, so nasa_donki works without NASA_API_KEY. CCMC kept the parameters and record formats but now rejects ranges longer than 30 days. The tool checks this before calling, and with only endDate it requests the 30 days before it (CCMC would count back from today and fail).
• nasa_donki returns one line per event by default (response_mode: "compact"), with the key fields for each type: flare class and peak time, CME speed, cone angle and modeled Earth arrival, the highest Kp of a geomagnetic storm, and so on. response_mode: "raw" returns the full records as before, and limit keeps the most recent N events. The retained resource always has the full records. A month of CMEs is about 21 KB compact; the full records (about 270 KB) exceeded the output limit.

New tools

• nasa_insight_weather: InSight Mars weather. Historical data only: the feed is frozen at sols 675-681 (October 2020). Needs NASA_API_KEY.
• nasa_tle: satellite two-line element sets by NORAD catalog number or name search (tle.ivanstanojevic.me, with CelesTrak data).
• nasa_ssc_observatories and nasa_ssc_locations: the Satellite Situation Center observatory list and spacecraft positions in GEO, GM, GSE, GSM, SM and GEI coordinates. Long ranges are thinned automatically to keep the output bounded.
• nasa_techport: TechPort project search and project details. These endpoints need no token.
• nasa_techtransfer: NASA patents, issued patents, software and spinoffs from technology.nasa.gov (the api.nasa.gov /techtransfer route only serves a help page).
• nasa_trek_layers and nasa_trek_tile: Mars, Moon and Vesta Trek layer search and WMTS tiles, addressed by zoom/row/column or by latitude/longitude.
• jpl_mission_design: the JPL Small-Body Mission Design API in object mode and accessible-targets mode. Porkchop-plot maps (mode M) and mission-extension searches (mode T) are not exposed: their responses are too large or too slow for a tool call.

Fixes

• Upstream error messages include the {"response":{"message":...}} bodies returned by the TLE API.

Release

• npm: @programcomputer/nasa-mcp-server@1.2.0 (latest), integrity sha512-qQfvsOZhyN2R3LK8EpTgt6Wl8n0exAhEVQ+qfYTXwMokUFX4VgLJN+28QYF/8DUkkaiRE2iNQDTVXdByLnrI0A==
• Commit: bcb5e3d (signed tag v1.2.0)
• Release run: https://github.com/ProgramComputer/NASA-MCP-server/actions/runs/36762436384
• Verify release run: https://github.com/ProgramComputer/NASA-MCP-server/actions/runs/36763484415
• Provenance: https://search.sigstore.dev/?logIndex=3023794500