MCP 服务器

NASA MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides access to NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) API.

README

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

Prerequisites

Node.js (v18 or higher)
npm or yarn
A NASA API key (free at api.nasa.gov)

Installation

Clone or navigate to this repository:

cd ts_mcp

Install dependencies:

npm install

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:

Open Cursor Settings:
- Press Ctrl+, (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+, (Mac)
- Or go to File > Preferences > Settings
Search for "MCP" or navigate to the MCP settings section
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

Artemis I: Flight Day 13

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)