# NASA Near-Earth Asteroid Risk Ranker (`saint_person/nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker`) Actor Rank near-Earth asteroids by a combined size/speed/proximity risk score for any date range - not a single-asteroid lookup. - **URL**: https://apify.com/saint\_person/nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker.md - **Developed by:** [saint person](https://apify.com/saint_person) (community) - **Categories:** Business - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per event This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## โ˜„๏ธ NASA Near-Earth Asteroid Risk Ranker > ๐Ÿš€ **Rank near-Earth asteroids by size, speed, and proximity for any date range.** A composite risk score across every object in the window - not a single-asteroid lookup. > ๐Ÿ•’ **Last updated:** 2026-07-11 ยท ๐Ÿ“Š **10 fields** per asteroid ยท Built on NASA's official public NeoWs API (DEMO_KEY works, no signup) > ๐ŸŽ **Try it free:** the free Apify plan returns up to **10 results per run** - enough to see the output quality. Any paid Apify plan unlocks full-size runs. Give it a date range and it pulls every near-Earth asteroid NASA is tracking in that window, then scores and ranks them by a combined size/speed/proximity formula - so you instantly see which object is the biggest concern, instead of scrolling NASA's raw JSON feed object by object. | ๐ŸŽฏ Target Audience | ๐Ÿ’ก Primary Use Cases | | --- | --- | | Science journalists, space/astronomy content creators, educators, researchers | News monitoring, content research, classroom material, casual risk awareness | --- ### ๐Ÿ“‹ What this Actor does - Fetches every near-Earth object NASA's feed reports for your date range (auto-splits into 7-day windows if needed) - Computes a composite risk score from estimated diameter, relative velocity, and miss distance - Ranks all asteroids in each window from highest to lowest risk score - Flags NASA's own "potentially hazardous asteroid" designation alongside the score > ๐Ÿ’ก **Why it matters:** NASA's raw feed lists asteroids in whatever order the API returns them - this ranks them by what actually matters (how big, how fast, how close). --- ### ๐ŸŽฌ Full demo ๐Ÿšง Video walkthrough coming soon - the Quick Start below takes under 3 minutes end to end. --- ### โš™๏ธ Input | Input | Type | Default | Behavior | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `startDate` | string | (prefilled) | First date to check (YYYY-MM-DD) | | `endDate` | string | (prefilled) | Last date to check (YYYY-MM-DD); ranges over 7 days auto-split into windows (max 42 days total) | | `apiKey` | string (secret) | DEMO_KEY | Optional - your own free api.nasa.gov key for higher rate limits | **Example: One week ahead** ```json { "startDate": "2026-07-11", "endDate": "2026-07-18" } ```` **Example: Full month scan** ```json { "startDate": "2026-08-01", "endDate": "2026-08-31" } ``` > โš ๏ธ **Good to know:** DEMO\_KEY is limited to 30 requests/hour and 50/day across ALL DEMO\_KEY users - get your own free key at api.nasa.gov if you plan to run this often. *** ### ๐Ÿ“Š Output Each asteroid returns **10 fields**. Download as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML, or consume via the Apify API. #### ๐Ÿงพ Schema | Field | Type | Example | | --- | --- | --- | | riskRank | integer | 1 | | name | string | (2010 WB3) | | closeApproachDate | string | 2026-07-15 | | estDiameterMetersAvg | number | 440.09 | | velocityKmPerSec | number | 27.49 | | missDistanceKm / missDistanceLunar | number / number | 17725394.95 / 46.09 | | isPotentiallyHazardous | boolean | false | | riskScore | number | 262.52 | | windowStart / windowEnd | string / string | 2026-07-11 / 2026-07-17 | #### ๐Ÿ“ฆ Sample record ```json {"name":"(2010 WB3)","closeApproachDate":"2026-07-15","estDiameterMetersAvg":440.09,"velocityKmPerSec":27.49,"missDistanceKm":17725394.95,"missDistanceLunar":46.09,"isPotentiallyHazardous":false,"riskScore":262.52,"windowStart":"2026-07-11","windowEnd":"2026-07-17","riskRank":1} ``` *** ### โœจ Why choose this Actor | | Capability | | --- | --- | | ๐Ÿ† | **Ranked, not raw.** Every asteroid in your window scored and sorted, not a flat list. | | โšก | **Built on NASA's official API.** DEMO\_KEY works immediately, no signup required. | | ๐Ÿ“… | **Any date range.** Auto-splits long ranges into NASA's required 7-day windows. | | ๐Ÿ” | **Automatic retries.** Transient failures retry with backoff. | | ๐Ÿ’ณ | **Pay per result.** No subscription. A typical week's scan costs under $0.15. | > ๐Ÿ“Š Turns NASA's raw JSON feed into 1 ranked risk table. *** ### ๐Ÿ“ˆ How it compares to alternatives | Approach | Cost | Coverage | Refresh | Setup | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **โญ NASA Near-Earth Asteroid Risk Ranker** *(this Actor)* | $5 free credit, then pay-per-use | Any date range, auto-windowed | **Live per run** | โšก 2 min | | NASA's raw NeoWs API directly | Free (DEMO\_KEY rate-limited) | Manual JSON parsing required | Live | ๐Ÿข Requires coding | | eyes.nasa.gov browsing manually | Free | One object at a time | Live | ๐Ÿข No ranking, no export | | Manual copy-paste | Free | Current session only | One-shot | ๐Ÿข Hours of clicking | Pick this Actor when you want a ranked, exportable risk table without writing your own NASA API integration. *** ### ๐Ÿš€ How to use 1. ๐Ÿ“ **Sign up.** Create a free Apify account with $5 credit (takes 2 minutes). 2. ๐ŸŒ **Open the Actor.** Go to the NASA Near-Earth Asteroid Risk Ranker page on the Apify Store. 3. โœ๏ธ **Set your input.** Pick your date range - or just press Start, the prefilled example works. 4. ๐Ÿš€ **Run it.** Watch results stream into the Dataset tab. 5. ๐Ÿ“ฅ **Download.** Grab results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML - or pipe them anywhere via the Apify API. > โฑ๏ธ Total time from signup to downloaded dataset: **3-5 minutes.** No coding required. *** ### ๐Ÿ’ผ Business use cases - **Science journalists:** back an "asteroid passing Earth" story with a real risk score, not just NASA's raw list. - **Content creators:** find the week's most notable close approach for video/newsletter content. - **Educators:** classroom material with real, ranked near-Earth object data. - **Researchers:** quick composite screening before deeper orbital-mechanics analysis. *** ### ๐ŸŒŸ Beyond business use cases - ๐ŸŽ“ **Research & academia** - planetary defense and NEO population studies. - ๐ŸŽจ **Personal & creative** - space newsletter or YouTube content research. - ๐Ÿค **Non-profit & civic** - public science-literacy and space-awareness outreach. - ๐Ÿงช **Experimentation** - prototype a space-risk dashboard on real data. *** ### ๐Ÿ”Œ Automating NASA Near-Earth Asteroid Risk Ranker **Node.js** (`apify-client` on NPM): ```javascript const { ApifyClient } = require('apify-client'); const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' }); const run = await client.actor('saint_person/nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker').call({ startDate: "2026-07-11", endDate: "2026-07-18" }); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); ``` **Python** (`apify-client` on PyPI): ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient client = ApifyClient('YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN') run = client.actor('saint_person/nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker').call(run_input={"startDate": "2026-07-11", "endDate": "2026-07-18"}) items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items ``` ๐Ÿ“š [Full Apify API documentation](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) [Apify Schedules](https://docs.apify.com/platform/schedules) triggers this Actor on any cron interval - weekly for a standing close-approach watch. *** ### ๐Ÿง  Use via MCP (for AI agents) NASA Near-Earth Asteroid Risk Ranker is directly callable by any MCP-compatible AI agent (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and others) through Apify's hosted MCP server - no custom integration code needed. ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/sse?actors=saint_person/nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" } } } } ``` Once connected, just ask your agent something like: *"Use the NASA Near-Earth Asteroid Risk Ranker Actor to tell me the riskiest asteroid passing Earth this week."* ๐Ÿ“š [Apify MCP server docs](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp) *** ### ๐Ÿค– Ask an AI assistant about this Actor - ๐Ÿ’ฌ [**ChatGPT**](https://chat.openai.com/?q=How%20do%20I%20use%20the%20NASA%20Near-Earth%20Asteroid%20Risk%20Ranker%20on%20Apify%3F) - ๐Ÿง  [**Claude**](https://claude.ai/new?q=How%20do%20I%20use%20the%20NASA%20Near-Earth%20Asteroid%20Risk%20Ranker%20on%20Apify%3F) - ๐Ÿ” [**Perplexity**](https://perplexity.ai/search?q=How%20do%20I%20use%20the%20NASA%20Near-Earth%20Asteroid%20Risk%20Ranker%20on%20Apify%3F) *** ### โ“ Frequently Asked Questions #### ๐Ÿงฉ How does it work? It calls NASA's official NeoWs feed endpoint per 7-day window, then computes a risk score (size ร— velocity รท proximity) for every asteroid returned and ranks them. #### What does "riskScore" mean - is this an official NASA metric? No - it's this Actor's own composite formula (diameter ร— velocity รท miss distance in lunar units) for relative ranking within a run. NASA's own hazard flag (`isPotentiallyHazardous`) is also included separately. #### Do I need my own NASA API key? No - DEMO\_KEY works immediately with no signup, just rate-limited (30/hour, 50/day, shared across all DEMO\_KEY users). Get a free personal key at api.nasa.gov for heavier use. #### โฐ Can I schedule regular runs? Yes. Use Apify Schedules to run this Actor on any cron interval. #### โš–๏ธ Is this data legal to collect? This Actor only collects data that is publicly accessible via NASA's free, open API. No login, no bypass of access controls. #### ๐Ÿ’ณ Do I need a paid Apify plan? No. The free Apify plan is enough for testing and small runs. #### ๐Ÿ” What happens if a run fails? Transient errors retry automatically with backoff. If a run still fails, the log explains exactly why. #### ๐Ÿ†˜ What if I need help? Open an issue on this Actor's Issues tab. *** ### ๐Ÿ”Œ Integrate with any app - [**Zapier**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/zapier) - [**Make**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/make) - [**n8n**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations) - [**Google Sheets**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/drive) - [**Slack**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/slack) - [**Gmail**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/gmail) - [**Webhooks**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/webhooks) - [**MCP**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp) *** ### ๐Ÿ”— Recommended Actors Pairs well with [USGS Seismic Risk Profiler](https://apify.com/saint_person/usgs-seismic-risk-profiler) for cross-domain natural-hazard awareness tooling. > ๐Ÿ’ก **Pro tip:** browse the complete [saint\_person collection](https://apify.com/saint_person) for more tools like this. *** ### ๐Ÿ†˜ Help & custom requests - ๐Ÿ› **Something not working?** Open an issue on this Actor's **Issues tab**. - ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ **Need a custom feature or a different data source?** Open an issue describing what you need. *** > **โš ๏ธ Disclaimer:** this Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NASA. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Only publicly available data is collected. Risk scores are this Actor's own composite metric, not an official NASA hazard assessment. # Actor input Schema ## `startDate` (type: `string`): First date to check (YYYY-MM-DD). Works out of the box with the prefilled example. ## `endDate` (type: `string`): Last date to check (YYYY-MM-DD). NASA limits each request window to 7 days; longer ranges are automatically split into multiple 7-day chunks. ## `apiKey` (type: `string`): Get a free key at api.nasa.gov for higher rate limits (1000/hour vs DEMO\_KEY's 30/hour). Leave blank to use the shared DEMO\_KEY. ## Actor input object example ```json { "startDate": "2026-07-11", "endDate": "2026-07-18" } ``` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "startDate": "2026-07-11", "endDate": "2026-07-18" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("saint_person/nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`๐Ÿ’พ Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // ๐Ÿ“š Want to learn more ๐Ÿ“–? Go to โ†’ https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "startDate": "2026-07-11", "endDate": "2026-07-18", } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("saint_person/nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("๐Ÿ’พ Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # ๐Ÿ“š Want to learn more ๐Ÿ“–? Go to โ†’ https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "startDate": "2026-07-11", "endDate": "2026-07-18" }' | apify call saint_person/nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=saint_person/nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "NASA Near-Earth Asteroid Risk Ranker", "description": "Rank near-Earth asteroids by a combined size/speed/proximity risk score for any date range - not a single-asteroid lookup.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "xPSqB3LhknyaGZwOg" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/saint_person~nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-saint_person-nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/saint_person~nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-saint_person-nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/saint_person~nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-saint_person-nasa-neo-asteroid-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "startDate", "endDate" ], "properties": { "startDate": { "title": "Start date", "type": "string", "description": "First date to check (YYYY-MM-DD). Works out of the box with the prefilled example." }, "endDate": { "title": "End date", "type": "string", "description": "Last date to check (YYYY-MM-DD). NASA limits each request window to 7 days; longer ranges are automatically split into multiple 7-day chunks." }, "apiKey": { "title": "NASA API key (optional)", "type": "string", "description": "Get a free key at api.nasa.gov for higher rate limits (1000/hour vs DEMO_KEY's 30/hour). Leave blank to use the shared DEMO_KEY." } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```