Space Images (NASA APOD)

A small Express + static-frontend app that proxies requests to NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) API so the API key is kept server-side.

This repository is already on GitHub — use it as the canonical source of truth. The instructions below cover how to run locally, safely configure your API key, and optional deployment notes.

Features

• Serve today's APOD or a specific date
• Fetch random APOD items
• Backend proxy keeps the NASA API key out of client-side code
• Simple responsive frontend

Quick links

• API endpoint: GET /api/apod (see usage below)

Requirements

• Node.js 18+ (for built-in fetch)
• npm
• A NASA API key: https://api.nasa.gov/

Local setup

1. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/<your-repo>.git
cd <your-repo>

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Create a .env file in the project root and add your API key:

NASA_API_KEY=YOUR_NASA_API_KEY_HERE

Do NOT commit .env to the repository. This repo includes .gitignore with .env excluded.

4. Run the app

npm start

5. Open in your browser:

http://localhost:3000

Environment variables

• NASA_API_KEY — (required) your NASA API key.
• PORT — (optional) port to run the server (defaults to 3000).

API / Usage

Backend proxy endpoint:

• GET /api/apod
  • Query params:
    • date=YYYY-MM-DD (optional) — fetch APOD for a specific date
    • count=N (optional) — fetch N random APOD items (returns an array)
    • thumbs=true|false (optional) — request video thumbnails

Examples:

• Today's APOD:

  curl http://localhost:3000/api/apod
  

• Specific date:

  curl "http://localhost:3000/api/apod?date=2021-12-01"
  

• Random item:

  curl "http://localhost:3000/api/apod?count=1"
  

The endpoint returns exactly what the NASA APOD API returns (an object or an array when count is used).

Deployment notes

Because this project contains a small Node/Express server, common deployment targets are:

• Render / Heroku / Fly / Railway — set NASA_API_KEY as an environment variable in the service's dashboard.
• Docker — build and run a container (example Dockerfile can be added).
• Vercel — suitable for frontends or serverless functions; if you use Vercel add a serverless function that proxies the APOD API and reads the secret from Vercel's Environment Variables.

When deploying from GitHub, do NOT store the API key in the repo. Instead:

• Use the host's secret/env var configuration.
• Or if you use GitHub Actions to deploy, store NASA_API_KEY in repository secrets and pass it to the deployment job.

Contributing

Contributions welcome.

Before submitting a PR:

• Open an issue to discuss significant changes.

Issues & Support

If you find bugs or want features, open an issue on this repository.

API KEY

o6ixYloELK4VQaxEDIUtkzWlKzGaNqgab8ZfoeXm

Project Link

https://6pmz9nvk-3000.inc1.devtunnels.ms/

Note: This link doesn't work all the time