NASA Image and Video Library Scraper

Search and download metadata from the NASA Image and Video Library — the official public archive of NASA photos, videos, and audio recordings. Access over 140,000 media assets spanning the entire history of space exploration, from early rocket tests to the latest Mars rover missions.

No API key required. No authentication. Completely free.

What You Can Scrape

• Images: High-resolution NASA photos of planets, spacecraft, astronauts, Earth, nebulae, galaxies, and more
• Videos: Mission footage, launch videos, space station activities, press briefings
• Audio: Historic mission audio, space sounds, recorded transmissions
• Search by keyword, filter by media type, year range, and NASA center
• Retrieve all download links for any specific NASA asset by its ID

Input Configuration

Field	Type	Description	Default
mode	Select	searchMedia to search, getAsset to look up a NASA ID	searchMedia
query	String	Search keywords (e.g. "Mars rover", "Apollo 11", "black hole")	Mars
mediaType	Select	Filter by image, video, audio, or leave empty for all types	image
startYear	Integer	Only include items from this year onward (e.g. 2020)	—
endYear	Integer	Only include items up to this year (e.g. 2023)	—
nasaId	String	NASA asset ID for getAsset mode (e.g. PIA12345)	—
maxItems	Integer	Maximum number of records to return	50

Example Inputs

Search for Mars rover images from 2020–2024:

{
  "mode": "searchMedia",
  "query": "Mars Perseverance rover",
  "mediaType": "image",
  "startYear": 2020,
  "endYear": 2024,
  "maxItems": 100
}

Search for Apollo mission videos:

{
  "mode": "searchMedia",
  "query": "Apollo 11 moon landing",
  "mediaType": "video",
  "maxItems": 50
}

Search all media types about the James Webb Space Telescope:

{
  "mode": "searchMedia",
  "query": "James Webb Space Telescope",
  "mediaType": "",
  "maxItems": 200
}

Get all download links for a specific NASA asset:

{
  "mode": "getAsset",
  "nasaId": "PIA24959"
}

Output Fields

searchMedia mode

Field	Type	Description
nasa_id	String	Unique NASA asset identifier (e.g. NHQ201906010007)
title	String	Title of the media item
description	String	Full description of the item
date_created	String	Creation date in YYYY-MM-DD format
media_type	String	image, video, or audio
center	String	NASA center that produced the item (e.g. JPL, GSFC, JSC)
keywords	Array	Keywords/tags associated with the item
photographer	String	Photographer or creator credit
secondary_creator	String	Additional creator credit
location	String	Location where the item was created
album	Array	Album(s) the item belongs to
preview_url	String	URL of a preview/thumbnail image
nasa_url	String	NASA details page URL (e.g. https://images.nasa.gov/details/PIA12345)
scrapedAt	String	ISO timestamp when the record was scraped

getAsset mode

Field	Type	Description
nasa_id	String	The requested NASA asset ID
asset_urls	Array	All asset file URLs (images, videos, metadata)
image_urls	Array	Image file URLs only
video_urls	Array	Video file URLs only
audio_urls	Array	Audio file URLs only
other_urls	Array	Other file URLs (e.g. metadata JSON)
preview_url	String	Best image URL (prefers large, then original)
nasa_url	String	NASA details page URL
scrapedAt	String	ISO timestamp when the record was scraped

Sample Output Record (searchMedia)

{
  "nasa_id": "PIA24959",
  "title": "NASA's Perseverance Rover Captures Stunning Vista of Mars Canyon",
  "description": "NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured this view using its Mastcam-Z camera system.",
  "date_created": "2021-06-17",
  "media_type": "image",
  "center": "JPL",
  "keywords": ["Mars", "Perseverance", "Mastcam-Z", "Jezero Crater"],
  "photographer": "NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU",
  "preview_url": "https://images-assets.nasa.gov/image/PIA24959/PIA24959~thumb.jpg",
  "nasa_url": "https://images.nasa.gov/details/PIA24959",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-05T10:00:00+00:00"
}

Popular Search Topics

• Planets: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn rings, Earth from space
• Missions: Apollo 11, Artemis, Voyager, Hubble, James Webb
• Subjects: astronaut spacewalk, rocket launch, ISS, nebula, galaxy
• Events: solar eclipse, asteroid, comet, aurora
• Centers: search combined with a center name like JPL Mars or GSFC satellite

Data Source

This actor uses the NASA Image and Video Library public API (images-api.nasa.gov). The API is free, open to the public, and requires no API key or authentication. It is maintained by NASA and provides access to the full archive at images.nasa.gov.

API documentation: https://images.nasa.gov/docs/images.nasa.gov_api_docs.pdf

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need an API key or NASA account? No. The NASA Image and Video Library API is completely public and requires no registration, API key, or authentication.

How many items can I retrieve? You can retrieve up to 10,000 items per run. The NASA library contains over 140,000 assets. Use query, mediaType, and year filters to narrow results.

Can I get the full-resolution image files? Use getAsset mode with a nasaId to retrieve all download links including the original high-resolution file. The image_urls field will contain all image renditions.

What NASA centers are covered? All NASA centers including JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), GSFC (Goddard Space Flight Center), JSC (Johnson Space Center), KSC (Kennedy Space Center), ARC (Ames Research Center), HQ (NASA Headquarters), and more.

Are the images free to use? NASA images are generally in the public domain. However, always verify the specific usage rights for each image at the NASA details page (nasa_url).

Why are some fields missing from results? Fields like photographer, location, album, and secondary_creator are only included when the NASA metadata contains them. The scraper never outputs empty or null fields.

How are results paginated? The actor automatically paginates through all results using the NASA API's page parameter (up to 100 items per page) until your maxItems limit is reached or there are no more results.

Can I search for audio recordings? Yes! Set mediaType to audio to find NASA audio recordings including mission transmissions, spacewalk audio, and historical recordings. Note that audio items typically don't have preview images.