NASA JPL Close Approach Scraper

NASA JPL Close Approach Scraper

Scrape NASA JPL close-approach data for any date range, distance, or target body, up to a million rows per run. Every object comes with its miss distance, velocity, magnitude, and orbital details. No API key required. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

NASA's CNEOS API requires you to construct raw queries and parse nested JSON, and it limits how much data you can pull at once. This actor reads the public close-approach feed directly, filtered by date, distance, magnitude, and target body, and returns each match in one flat, analysis-ready row. It is built for researchers, educators, and space enthusiasts who need bulk historical or predicted approach data without writing code.

Who uses it	What they scrape NASA JPL for
Astronomy researchers	Building a dataset of near-Earth object approaches for a specific time window to study population statistics.
Science educators	Pulling recent close-approach data for classroom exercises on orbital mechanics and asteroid size distribution.
Space enthusiasts	Monitoring upcoming close approaches to Earth within a set distance for personal tracking or outreach.
Data journalists	Gathering historical approach records to create visualizations of near-Earth object flybys over time.

What it does

This Actor collects NASA JPL close-approach records by date range, maximum distance, maximum H magnitude, and target body, and returns each one as a flat row.

• 📅 Date range control: Set any start and end date, from historical records to future predictions, using YYYY-MM-DD or relative spans like '+60' days.
• 🌍 Target body selection: Filter approaches to Earth, the Moon, or any planet from Mercury to Pluto, or select All Bodies for a complete survey.
• 📏 Distance filter: Limit results to objects passing within a maximum nominal distance in astronomical units, with a default of 0.05 au for near-Earth flybys.
• 🔭 Magnitude filter: Restrict output to objects brighter than a given absolute magnitude H, focusing on larger, more detectable bodies.
• 📊 Flat row output: Each approach is returned as a single row with miss distance, relative velocity, magnitude, and orbital elements, ready for spreadsheets or databases.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with NASA JPL data

📈 Build a near-Earth object timeline.

A researcher sets a five-year window and a 0.05 au distance cap to collect every close approach, then plots miss distances over time to spot clustering patterns.

🏫 Create a classroom dataset.

A teacher pulls the next 90 days of Earth approaches under 0.1 au and exports a CSV for students to calculate relative velocities and sizes.

🪐 Compare planetary flyby rates.

An enthusiast runs the actor for Jupiter and Saturn separately over a decade, then compares approach frequencies and velocities between the two gas giants.

📰 Fact-check an asteroid story.

A journalist enters the date and distance mentioned in a news report to verify the object's actual miss distance, velocity, and estimated diameter from the official JPL record.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Reads the public JPL feed directly with no registration or rate-limit headaches.
Bulk extraction	Pull up to a million close-approach records in one run for large-scale analysis.
Fixed schema	Every row has the same columns, so you can merge runs without cleaning.
Planet-wide coverage	Track approaches to Earth, the Moon, or any major planet in one actor.

How it compares

This actor focuses exclusively on the JPL close-approach feed with date, distance, magnitude, and target-body filters, while the competitors below bundle NEO data with APOD and other NASA APIs.

Feature	ParseForge	NASA Space Data Scraper	🛰️ NASA Space Intelligence	NASA Data Scraper
Dedicated close-approach date range filter	Yes, start and end date with relative spans	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Filter by nominal miss distance in au	Yes, configurable maximum distance	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Filter by absolute magnitude H	Yes, optional maximum H threshold	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Target body selector for any planet	Yes, Earth through Pluto plus the Moon	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Bulk extraction up to 1,000,000 rows	Yes, for paid users	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
APOD and Mars Rover imagery	Not included	Yes	Yes	Yes

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with a date range, a maximum distance in au, an optional maximum H magnitude, and a target body, and filters run as each approach is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
 "dateMin": "2026-01-01",
 "dateMax": "2026-03-01",
 "maxDistanceAu": "0.05",
 "body": "Earth",
 "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
 "dateMin": "2026-01-01",
 "dateMax": "2026-03-01",
 "maxDistanceAu": "0.05",
 "body": "Earth",
 "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.004 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.40
1,000 results	$4.00
10,000 results	$40.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the NASA JPL Close Approach Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to NASA JPL through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/jpl-close-approach-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check your date range and filters. A very narrow window with a tight distance cap and a low maximum magnitude may return zero objects. Try widening the date range or increasing the distance and magnitude limits.

Why does my run stop at 10 items?

Free Apify accounts are limited to 10 items as a preview. Upgrade to a paid plan and set the 'Maximum close approaches' field to a higher number to collect more records.

The actor returns an error about the date format.

Use the YYYY-MM-DD format for both start and end dates. You can also use 'now' for the start date and a relative span like '+60' for the end date. Avoid slashes or written month names.

I selected a planet but got approaches to Earth instead.

Make sure you are using the dropdown selector for the target body field. Typing a planet name manually may not match the expected value. Select from the list to ensure the correct code is sent.

My export file has missing columns.

All rows share the same fixed schema. If a column appears empty, the JPL feed did not provide that value for that specific object. Try a different date range or target body to see if the field populates.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need a NASA API key to use this actor?	No. This actor reads the public JPL Small-Body Database close-approach feed directly, so no API key or registration is required.
What date range can I scrape?	The underlying NASA/JPL service covers both historical and predicted approaches. You can set any start and end date in YYYY-MM-DD format, or use 'now' for today and relative spans like '+60' for 60 days out.
What does the distance filter control?	The maximum distance filter sets the nominal miss distance in astronomical units. One au is roughly 389 lunar distances. The default of 0.05 au returns only relatively close flybys.
What is H magnitude and why would I filter by it?	Absolute magnitude H is a measure of an object's intrinsic brightness. A lower H value means a larger, brighter body. Filtering by maximum H lets you focus on bigger objects and exclude tiny, faint ones.
Can I scrape approaches to planets other than Earth?	Yes. The target body selector includes the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, plus an All Bodies option.
How many records can I get in one run?	Free Apify users are limited to 10 items as a preview. Paid users can set the maximum up to 1,000,000 close approaches per run.
What format is the output data?	You can export your dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML directly from the Apify platform. Each close approach is one flat row with consistent columns.
Does this actor return orbital elements?	Yes. Each row includes the orbital elements published by JPL for the approaching object at the epoch of the close approach.
Is the data real-time or cached?	The actor fetches fresh data from the JPL feed on each run. There is no caching layer, so you always get the latest published predictions and historical records.
Can I schedule this actor to run automatically?	Yes. Apify supports scheduled runs. You can set this actor to run daily or weekly to collect new close-approach predictions as they are published.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.