Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has made special contribution to China's space mission, said Li Yongzhi, chief doctor of the China Space Center.

Experiment results in the past years have proved that the TCM and traditional Chinese medical treatment are effective in curing aerospace illness like radiation harms and head congestion, said the doctor.

The physical conditions of astronauts vary much from taking and not taking TCM in the experiments, including strength, endurance and heart and lung functions, he said.

TCM has minor side-effects than western medicine and the treatment is easy to conduct in space flight missions, he said.

Li reached Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, the two astronauts aboard the Shenzhou VI for China's second manned space mission launched Wednesday, asking their physical feelings on the first circle around the earth. "I'm feeling good," the astronauts replied.

Doctors have been closely monitoring the physical conditions of the astronauts, including their blood pressure, body temperature, and sleeping and dining.

(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2005)