# NASA Image and Video Library

NASA's searchable archive of mission photos, videos and audio, with a free JSON API that returns metadata and direct links to each file in several sizes.

- Category: Space and astronomy · by NASA
- Website: https://images.nasa.gov/
- Live data: no
- Checked on the official pages: 2026-10-23

## API

- Official API: yes, docs https://images.nasa.gov/docs/images.nasa.gov_api_docs.pdf
- Key needed: no
- Price: not stated
- Base URL: https://images-api.nasa.gov
- Formats: json

Example request:

```
https://images-api.nasa.gov/search?q=apollo%2011&media_type=image&page_size=10
```

## Data and license

- Download: https://images.nasa.gov/ (jpg, mp4, mp3, json)
- License: NASA Images and Media Usage Guidelines (generally not copyrighted in the US) (https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/); covers NASA-made images, video and audio; third-party items marked as copyrighted are excluded; NASA logos and insignia are protected
- Commercial use with conditions
- Credit required
- Can be embedded
- Quote (api_official): "The images.nasa.gov API is organized around REST. Our API has predictable, resource-oriented URLs, and uses HTTP response codes to indicate API errors." (https://images.nasa.gov/docs/images.nasa.gov_api_docs.pdf)
- Quote (api_key): "curl "https://images-api.nasa.gov/search ?q=apollo%2011 &description=moon%20landing &media_type=image" | python -m json.tool" (https://images.nasa.gov/docs/images.nasa.gov_api_docs.pdf)
- Quote (formats): "JSON is returned by all API responses, including errors." (https://images.nasa.gov/docs/images.nasa.gov_api_docs.pdf)
- Quote (copyright): "NASA content – images, audio, video, and media files used in the rendition of 3-dimensional models, such as texture maps and polygon data in any format – generally are not subject to copyright in the United States." (https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/)
- Quote (commercial): "If the NASA material is to be used for commercial purposes, including advertisements, it must not explicitly or implicitly convey NASA’s endorsement of commercial goods or services." (https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/)
- Quote (attribution): "NASA should be acknowledged as the source of the material." (https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/)
- Quote (embed): "You may use this material for educational or informational purposes, including photo collections, textbooks, public exhibits, computer graphical simulations and Internet Web pages." (https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/)
- Quote (third_party): "Those images will be marked identified as copyright protected with the name of the copyright holder. NASA’s use does not convey any rights to others to use the same material." (https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/)

## Rules for an agent

- Call images-api.nasa.gov/search with no key; results are Collection+JSON, and /asset/{nasa_id} lists every file size (~orig, ~large, ~medium, ~thumb).
- Credit NASA as the source and never imply NASA endorses your product.
- Do not use NASA logos/insignia or images of identifiable NASA employees in ads or merchandise without clearance.
- Skip items marked as third-party copyrighted unless you get the holder's permission.

## Build ideas on AgentGid

- [Space photo wallpapers from NASA's archive](https://agentgid.com/resources/ideas/space-photo-wallpaper/agent.md)

Human page: https://agentgid.com/resources/nasa-image-and-video-library/
Source: AgentGid (agentgid.com). Facts are quoted from the site's own pages; check the license page before you ship.