With the continued progress of mankind into long-term space voyages, physiological boundaries of the human body emerge as a major concern. Recent experiences by astronauts coming back after being taken into space have pointed out post-flight pathologies such as musculoskeletal weakness, neuro-vestibular dysfunction, cardiovascular changes and slow physiological recovery, which have contributed to the ineffectiveness of existing countermeasures. Contemporary space medicine primarily utilizes reactive, system-specific treatment approaches to manage spaceflight-induced physiological alterations. This narrative review aims to examine a preventive and integrative model associated with matching already existing knowledge on space physiology and classical Ayurvedic principles. A thorough search of the current biomedical literature was performed with the support of databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and space agency repositories, as well as the analysis of classical Ayurvedic texts and commentaries that would provide the idea of conceptual similarities. The review suggests a synthesizing hypothesis that spaceflight is an extreme Vata-Prakopaka condition, which leads to systemic disequilibrium and tissue loss that is the basis of the astronaut pathophysiology spectrum. Ayurvedic interventions such as Vata Shamaka diets, neuro-nourishing Nasya treatments and Ojas-propping Rasayana treatments such as Ashwagandha are discussed as possible preventive and resilience-making interventions based on this conceptual model. This integrative approach helps in implementing a paradigm shift of post flight rehabilitation to preemptive space medicine tailoring to personalized space medicine as a way of improving human adaptability in future space missions.

Keywords: Space physiology, Space mission, Microgravity, Vata, Cosmic radiation