NASA daily astronomy image site

I built a modern NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) website using Vite and the public NASA API. The app automatically fetches and displays the latest astronomy image along with its title and explanation every day.

My main goal wasn’t just to consume an API, but to create a polished user experience. I added a pastel glassmorphic UI, interactive canvas background, skeleton loading animations, responsive layout, and smooth transitions to make the site feel clean and engaging.

One challenge was handling API keys correctly in a frontend project. I learned how to use Vite’s environment variables, why .env files matter, and the limitations of storing keys in client-side applications. I also configured the project for deployment on Vercel.

I’m most proud of turning a simple API project into something that feels production-ready while keeping the codebase organized and beginner-friendly. If you’re testing the project, try refreshing on different days to see a new astronomy image automatically fetched from NASA’s APOD API.