API Reference

Atlas exposes a RESTful API for unified access to space data. Below are all available endpoints, their usage, parameters, and example requests/responses.

Search

Method	Route	Purpose
GET	/search	Unified entity search

GET /search

Purpose: Search for any entity (planet, mission, asteroid, image, etc.) across all providers.

Parameters:

q (string, required): Search query.

Example Request:

curl "http://localhost:3000/search?q=mars"

Example Response:

{
  "query": "mars",
  "entities": [
    {
      "id": "mars",
      "name": "Mars",
      "type": "planet",
      "identifiers": ["mars"],
      "sources": ["Le Système Solaire"],
      "originalResults": [/* ... */]
    }
  ]
}

Possible Errors:

400: Missing query parameter q.

Explore

Method	Route	Purpose
GET	/explore/:query	Orchestrate multi-domain exploration

GET /explore/:query

Purpose: Aggregate results from images, missions, and entities for a given query.

Parameters:

query (string, required): Exploration topic.

Example Request:

curl "http://localhost:3000/explore/mars"

Example Response:

{
  "query": "mars",
  "summary": "Exploration overview for 'mars'. Identified as a known entity (Mars). Associated with 2 recorded space missions.",
  "images": [/* ... */],
  "missions": [/* ... */],
  "entities": [/* ... */]
}

Possible Errors:

400: Missing exploration query.

Images

Method	Route	Purpose
GET	/images	List/search images

GET /images

Purpose: Retrieve images, optionally filtered by query.

Query Parameters:

q (string, optional): Search term.

Example Request:

curl "http://localhost:3000/images?q=mars"

Example Response:

{
  "images": [
    {
      "id": "nasa-123",
      "url": "https://images.nasa.gov/mars.jpg",
      "title": "Mars Surface",
      "description": "A view of Mars.",
      "sources": ["NASA"]
    }
  ]
}

Missions

Method	Route	Purpose
GET	/missions	List/search missions
GET	/missions/:id	Get mission details

GET /missions

Purpose: List missions, optionally filtered by query, with pagination.

Query Parameters:

q (string, optional): Search term.
limit (integer, optional): Results per page (default: 20).
page (integer, optional): Page number (default: 1).

Example Request:

curl "http://localhost:3000/missions?q=mars&limit=5&page=1"

Example Response:

{
  "meta": { "page": 1, "limit": 5, "returned": 2 },
  "missions": [
    {
      "id": "mars-express",
      "name": "Mars Express",
      "description": "ESA Mars orbiter.",
      "agency": "ESA",
      "leadOrganization": "ESA",
      "target": "Mars",
      "status": "Active",
      "launchDate": "2003-06-02",
      "endDate": null,
      "website": "https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express",
      "principalInvestigators": ["Dr. John Doe"],
      "sources": ["NASA", "ESA"]
    }
  ]
}

GET /missions/:id

Purpose: Get details for a specific mission.

Parameters:

id (string, required): Mission ID.

Example Request:

curl "http://localhost:3000/missions/mars-express"

Example Response:

{
  "mission": {
    "id": "mars-express",
    "name": "Mars Express",
    "description": "ESA Mars orbiter.",
    "agency": "ESA",
    "leadOrganization": "ESA",
    "target": "Mars",
    "status": "Active",
    "launchDate": "2003-06-02",
    "endDate": null,
    "website": "https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express",
    "principalInvestigators": ["Dr. John Doe"],
    "sources": ["NASA", "ESA"]
  }
}

Possible Errors:

404: Mission not found.

Error Format

All errors are returned as JSON objects with an error field:

{
  "error": "Description of the error."
}

For more endpoints and advanced usage, see the rest of the documentation.