Heliospice

Query positions of spacecraft, planets, moons, and asteroids in the solar system

Security Scan

The skill's stated purpose (querying solar-system ephemerides) aligns with its instructions, but it asks the user to pip-install an externally hosted package and does not document kernel sources or cache locations—so verify package provenance and kernel sources before installing.

Purpose & Capability

Name, description, and runtime tools (ephemeris queries, coordinate transforms, kernel management) are coherent for a SPICE-based ephemeris/query tool. No unrelated credentials, binaries, or config paths are requested.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md is instruction-only and stays on-topic: it recommends 'pip install heliospice' and lists functions (get_spacecraft_ephemeris, compute_distance, manage_kernels, etc.). However, 'manage_kernels' implies downloading and caching SPICE kernels; the SKILL.md does not document where kernels are fetched from, what cache paths are used, or how much data may be downloaded. That network/disk IO is reasonable for the stated purpose but under-specified.

Install Mechanism

There is no formal install spec in the registry; SKILL.md suggests installing via pip. Installing an arbitrary PyPI package executes third-party code locally (moderate-risk action). This is expected for a Python library but the skill lacks provenance (no homepage, unknown source) which raises the need for cautious vetting.

Credentials

The skill requests no environment variables, credentials, or config paths. The lack of extra secrets is appropriate for a read-only ephemeris/query tool.

Persistence & Privilege

always is false and the skill is user-invocable; it does not request persistent/privileged agent settings. Nothing in SKILL.md indicates it will change other skills or system-wide agent settings.

Assessment

This skill appears to do what it claims (SPICE-based ephemeris queries) and does not request credentials or special system access. Before installing, verify the 'heliospice' package provenance: check the PyPI/author page, source repository, and recent release history; prefer packages with an official homepage or repository. Inspect what URLs the library uses to download SPICE kernels (prefer NAIF/PSA or well-known archives) and where it caches files (so you can control disk usage). If you are unsure, install and run it in an isolated environment (virtualenv or container) and review the package source first. If you want higher assurance, ask the skill author for the package repository URL and kernel sources; lacking that, treat pip install of an unknown package as a moderate risk.

Query spacecraft and planetary ephemeris data using SPICE kernels.

Setup

pip install heliospice

What You Can Query

Spacecraft (36+): Parker Solar Probe, Solar Orbiter, Juno, Cassini, Voyager 1/2, Mars 2020, MRO, New Horizons, Europa Clipper, Psyche, BepiColombo, JUICE, Lucy, Galileo, Dawn, MESSENGER, and more...

Planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

Moons: Moon, Titan, Europa, Ganymede, Io, Phobos, Deimos, and many more

Other: Sun, asteroids, comets, Solar System Barycenter

Tools

• get_spacecraft_ephemeris — Position at single time or timeseries (with optional velocity)
• compute_distance — Distance between two bodies over time range (min/max/mean, closest approach)
• transform_coordinates — Transform vectors between coordinate frames (RTN, J2000, ECLIPJ2000, etc.)
• list_spice_missions — List all supported spacecraft
• list_coordinate_frames — List available coordinate frames
• manage_kernels — Check status, download, load, or purge kernel cache

Examples

• "Where is Parker Solar Probe right now?"
• "What's Earth's distance from the Sun?"
• "Show me Juno's trajectory for January 2024"
• "When did Mars get closest to Jupiter in 2024?"
• "Convert this RTN vector to J2000 frame"
• "What's the current Moon position?"