diff --git a/.github/workflows/cosmic-daily.yml b/.github/workflows/cosmic-daily.yml
index 9a15feb..5629c52 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cosmic-daily.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cosmic-daily.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ on:
         required: true
         default: false
         type: boolean
+  schedule:
+    # 12:00 UTC (08:00 EDT / 07:00 EST) — APOD for the current US day is
+    # already published by then. Always opens a PR for human review; it
+    # never auto-merges.
+    - cron: "0 12 * * *"
 
 permissions:
   contents: write
@@ -46,6 +51,18 @@ jobs:
           fi
           echo "value=$target" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
+      - name: Resolve publish flag
+        id: mode
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          # Manual runs use the publish input; scheduled runs always publish
+          # (i.e. generate + open a PR for review, never auto-merge).
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "schedule" ]; then
+            echo "publish=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "publish=${{ inputs.publish }}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
       - name: Preview or generate APOD content
         id: apod
         if: always()
@@ -55,7 +72,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
-          if [ "${{ inputs.publish }}" = "true" ]; then
+          if [ "${{ steps.mode.outputs.publish }}" = "true" ]; then
             python -m cosmic_daily generate --date "${{ steps.target.outputs.value }}" | tee /tmp/cosmic-daily.log
           else
             python -m cosmic_daily preview --date "${{ steps.target.outputs.value }}" | tee /tmp/cosmic-daily.log
@@ -67,7 +84,7 @@ jobs:
           fi
 
       - name: Validate generated post
-        if: ${{ inputs.publish == true && steps.apod.outputs.post_path != '' }}
+        if: ${{ steps.mode.outputs.publish == 'true' && steps.apod.outputs.post_path != '' }}
         working-directory: tools/cosmic-daily
         shell: bash
         run: |
@@ -75,7 +92,7 @@ jobs:
           python -m cosmic_daily check --post-path "${{ steps.apod.outputs.post_path }}"
 
       - name: Create pull request
-        if: ${{ inputs.publish == true && steps.apod.outputs.post_path != '' }}
+        if: ${{ steps.mode.outputs.publish == 'true' && steps.apod.outputs.post_path != '' }}
         uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v6
         with:
           branch: "cosmic-daily/${{ steps.target.outputs.value }}"
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ab2e1c3..44d8911 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 !.env.example
 __pycache__/
 *.py[cod]
+*.egg-info/
 .pytest_cache/
 .venv/
 venv/
diff --git a/tools/cosmic-daily/cosmic_daily/nasa_client.py b/tools/cosmic-daily/cosmic_daily/nasa_client.py
index bd7aae3..dc02f58 100644
--- a/tools/cosmic-daily/cosmic_daily/nasa_client.py
+++ b/tools/cosmic-daily/cosmic_daily/nasa_client.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import os
+import time
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from datetime import date
 from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
@@ -10,6 +11,11 @@
 
 
 APOD_ENDPOINT = "https://api.nasa.gov/planetary/apod"
+# DEMO_KEY is a shared, rate-limited key; requests can be slow under load, so
+# use a generous read timeout and retry a couple of times before giving up.
+REQUEST_TIMEOUT = (10, 45)
+MAX_ATTEMPTS = 3
+RETRY_BACKOFF_SECONDS = 5
 
 
 @dataclass
@@ -51,15 +57,25 @@ def fetch_apod(day: str | date | None = None, api_key: str | None = None) -> APO
     target_day = day.isoformat() if isinstance(day, date) else (str(day) if day else date.today().isoformat())
     configured_key = api_key or os.getenv("NASA_API_KEY") or "DEMO_KEY"
 
-    try:
-        response = requests.get(
-            APOD_ENDPOINT,
-            params={"api_key": configured_key, "date": target_day},
-            timeout=20,
-            allow_redirects=False,
-        )
-    except requests.RequestException as exc:
-        raise RuntimeError(f"Failed to fetch APOD for {target_day}: {exc}") from exc
+    response = None
+    last_error: requests.RequestException | None = None
+    for attempt in range(1, MAX_ATTEMPTS + 1):
+        try:
+            response = requests.get(
+                APOD_ENDPOINT,
+                params={"api_key": configured_key, "date": target_day},
+                timeout=REQUEST_TIMEOUT,
+                allow_redirects=False,
+            )
+            break
+        except requests.RequestException as exc:
+            last_error = exc
+            if attempt < MAX_ATTEMPTS:
+                time.sleep(RETRY_BACKOFF_SECONDS * attempt)
+    if response is None:
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            f"Failed to fetch APOD for {target_day} after {MAX_ATTEMPTS} attempts: {last_error}"
+        ) from last_error
 
     if response.status_code != 200:
         raise RuntimeError(f"NASA API returned HTTP {response.status_code} for {target_day}")