canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/nasa.gov/nasa

# Nasa Gov NASA Image and Video Library API

The NASA Image and Video Library API provides open access to NASA's archive of images, video, and audio. It searches the collection by keyword, media type, and date, returns the asset manifest for a given NASA ID, and retrieves per-asset metadata, video captions, and the contents of named albums. Every item carries NASA's own descriptive metadata, so applications can surface mission imagery and footage with full attribution.

## For AI agents

Search NASA's public media archive and retrieve image, video, and audio assets by NASA ID. Returns asset manifests, metadata, captions, and album contents, with no API key required.

## Scope

Does not handle image editing, media hosting, or live streaming. Use for searching and retrieving NASA's public media archive only.

## Capabilities

- Search NASA's media archive by keyword, media type, year range, center, or photographer
- Retrieve the asset manifest listing every file and resolution for a NASA ID
- Pull descriptive metadata for an individual image, video, or audio asset
- Fetch the caption track for a NASA video by its NASA ID
- List the assets grouped under a named NASA album

## Use cases

### AI Media Research Agent

An AI agent connected through Jentic finds and cites NASA media by searching the library and reading the returned asset manifests, so a user asking for footage of a specific mission gets real file links without the developer wiring the NASA endpoints by hand. The agent searches by keyword and media type, then resolves each hit's NASA ID to its downloadable assets.

Example prompt: Search the NASA library for 'Mars rover' limited to images, then return the full-resolution file URLs for the top three results

### Educational Content Feed

An education or newsroom product populates articles with public-domain NASA visuals by searching the archive for a topic and pulling each asset's metadata for captions and credits. Media-type and year filters keep results on topic, and album lookups let an editor surface a curated set such as a mission's official gallery.

Example prompt: Fetch the assets in a named NASA album and return each item's title, description, and photographer credit

### Accessible Video Captions

A media or accessibility tool enriches embedded NASA videos with their caption tracks by resolving each video's NASA ID to its captions location and metadata. This lets a product display searchable, screen-reader-friendly transcripts alongside the footage without manually transcribing anything.

Example prompt: Given a NASA video's NASA ID, retrieve its caption track location and display the transcript next to the player

## Key endpoints

| Method | Path | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GET | `/search` | Search the media archive by keyword and filters |
| GET | `/asset/{nasa_id}` | Get the asset manifest for a NASA ID |
| GET | `/metadata/{nasa_id}` | Get the metadata location for a NASA ID |
| GET | `/captions/{nasa_id}` | Get the video caption location for a NASA ID |
| GET | `/album/{album_name}` | List the assets in a named album |

## Key resources

- **Search** — Keyword and faceted search across the image, video, and audio collection
- **Asset** — Manifest of every file and resolution available for a NASA ID
- **Metadata and Captions** — Descriptive metadata and video caption locations for a NASA ID
- **Album** — Assets grouped under a named NASA album

## AI readiness

This API is usable in Jentic One now. Its AI-readiness score against Jentic's framework shows where it stands today and where improvements would make it even easier for agents to use.

- **Score:** 66 / 100
- **Maturity:** AI-Aware
- **Dimensions:**
  - Foundational Compliance: 93 / 100
  - Developer Experience & Jentic Compatibility: 61 / 100
  - AI-Readiness & Agent Experience: 44 / 100
  - Agent Usability: 94 / 100
  - Security: 100 / 100
  - AI Discoverability: 63 / 100
- **View full report:** https://jentic.com/apis/nasa.gov/nasa/scorecard
- **How the score is calculated:** https://docs.jentic.com/reference/api-readiness-framework/overview/
- **More about the dimensions:** https://docs.jentic.com/reference/api-readiness-framework/specification/#dimensional-model-overview

### Score it yourself

Every API in the directory is allowlisted, so you can re-score it with no key required.

- **Score your own API:** https://jentic.com/scorecard.md
- **Scoring CLI agent skill:** https://github.com/jentic/jentic-api-scorecard/blob/main/skills/jentic-api-scorecard/SKILL.md

```sh
npx @jentic/api-scorecard-cli score <openapi-url>
```

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** The NASA Image and Video Library needs no API key, but wiring it by hand still means learning its search parameters, NASA ID lookups, and asset-manifest shape. Through Jentic you install once, import it from the API Directory, and your agent calls it.
- **Permission scoping:** Every operation here is a read, so a rule can keep your agent to just search and asset retrieval. You choose which operations it may call, and there is no write path to the archive.
- **Credential handling:** The NASA Image and Video Library is public, so there is no key to manage. When you add APIs that do require credentials, your own Jentic One instance keeps them encrypted and injects them at execution time, never placing them in the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
- **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'find NASA images of Mars' or 'get a video asset by NASA ID', and Jentic returns the matching NASA Image and Video Library operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.

## Related APIs

- **Pexels API** — Free stock photo and video library with keyword search.
- **Giphy API** — Searchable library of animated GIFs and short clips.
- **SpaceX API** — Launch, rocket, and mission data for SpaceX flights.
- **The Space Devs Launch Library** — Spaceflight launch schedules and event data across agencies.

## FAQ

### What authentication does the NASA Image and Video Library API use?

The NASA Image and Video Library API is public: its OpenAPI spec declares no authentication, so search and asset requests need no API key. Through Jentic it is still called from your own self-hosted instance, with every call logged.

### Can I filter NASA media searches by type with the NASA Image and Video Library API?

Yes. The search operation accepts a media type of image, video, or audio, along with keyword, year range, NASA center, and photographer filters, and returns paged results. Each hit includes a NASA ID that you pass to the asset, metadata, or captions lookups.

### What are the rate limits for the NASA Image and Video Library API?

The OpenAPI spec does not define rate limits for the NASA Image and Video Library API. NASA documents current usage guidance at https://images.nasa.gov, so check there before running large harvesting jobs.

### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the NASA Image and Video Library API?

Yes. Write a rule that allows only the search and asset-retrieval operations, so the agent finds and reads media and nothing more. The archive is read-only, so no rule can let the agent change anything, and every call it makes is logged.

### How do I retrieve a NASA media asset through Jentic?

Search by intent in Jentic with a query like 'search NASA for images', add the NASA Image and Video Library API from the Jentic API Directory, and your agent runs the search then the asset lookup to return the media files for a NASA ID. To run it on your own infrastructure, install Jentic One from its GitHub repo.