Published on: 2026-09-21
Source: People’s Republic of China — Translation
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Tianjin, September 21 /Xinhua/ — Over the past decade, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has played an important role in supporting China’s manned space missions, and its unique characteristics may provide comprehensive health protection for astronauts in the future, experts said at the First National Conference on Aerospace Medical Engineering in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin.
The conference, held from Saturday to Sunday, brought together experts and scientists from fields such as aerospace medicine, ergonomics, and life sciences to discuss the issues and challenges that medical engineering may face in future deep space research.
Zhang Boli, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a renowned master of traditional Chinese medicine, says that the unique conditions of spaceflight, in which an astronaut’s breathing, digestion, and mobility are disrupted under microgravity, make the comprehensive approach of TCM especially suitable for maintaining crew health.
“Traditional Chinese medicine uses a comprehensive approach to regulate the body’s functions, in particular, it corrects the imbalance of qi /vital energy/ and blood through herbal therapy, and within its framework, acupuncture is also applied to normalize unstable heart rhythm, improve digestion, and sleep,” says Zhang Boli.
Yu Bin, an expert from the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, spoke about specific ways of applying traditional Chinese medicine in space. Acupuncture can help normalize sleep and prevent muscle atrophy, while Chinese patented TCM medicines can improve cardiovascular function and assist astronauts in adapting to microgravity conditions.
“In the future, we will continue to use the national-level space laboratory as a unique platform for conducting research in the field of traditional Chinese medicine – not only to ensure health safety during flights in low Earth orbit, but also to search for TCM technologies and methods to address medical problems related to manned deep space flights,” said Wu Bing.
Cosmonaut Zhang Lu, who participated in the “Shenzhou-15” and “Shenzhou-21” missions, said that TKM is closely linked to the success of the mission. According to him, during the “Shenzhou-21” mission, which lasted in orbit for nearly seven months, the crew used TKM equipment to stimulate nerves and muscles in the middle and later stages of the flight to prevent muscle atrophy.
Zhang Lu added that the space station has a stock of TCM medicines, including space pills for strengthening the heart and functional drinks that help protect against radiation and boost immunity.
Zhang Boli noted that, as research shows, TCM methods also help combat orthostatic intolerance, cardiovascular disorders, and space sickness, thereby expanding the toolkit for protecting astronauts’ health – from physical and psychological training to disease prevention. -0-
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