science

Shenzhou 17

Shenzhou 17 is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Shenzhou 17 rather than just read about it. In short: Shenzhou 17 (Chinese: 神舟十七号; pinyin: Shénzhōu Shíqī-hào; lit. 'Divine Boat Number 17') was a Chinese spaceflight to the Tiangong space station, launched on 26 October 2023. It carried three People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonauts on board a Shenzhou spacecraft.

Key takeaways

Shenzhou 17 belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Shenzhou 17 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Shenzhou 17 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Shenzhou 17 (Chinese: 神舟十七号; pinyin: Shénzhōu Shíqī-hào; lit. 'Divine Boat Number 17') was a Chinese spaceflight to the Tiangong space station, launched on 26 October 2023. It carried three People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonauts on board a Shenzhou spacecraft. The mission was the twelfth crewed Chinese spaceflight and the seventeenth flight overall of the Shenzhou program.

Background Shenzhou 17 was the sixth spaceflight to the Tiangong space station, lasting just over six months. The spacecraft entered the launch area in April 2023, prior to launch was maintained in a state of near-readiness if needed as a lifeboat for the Shenzhou 16 crew. The crew of Shenzhou 17 was announced on 25 October 2023.

Mission The flight launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on 26 October 2023 at 09:46 UTC, near the end of the Shenzhou 16 mission. Approximately 6.5 hours after launch, the spacecraft docked with the Tianhe core module's forward docking port. Following docking, the crew entered the station and were greeted by the crew of Shenzhou 16, with whom they would share a four-day overlap between the two missions prior to Shenzhou 16's departure. The two crews sent a televised message to Mission Control as part of a handover ceremony, which was also livestreamed by Chinese national television broadcaster CCTV. The mission ended on 30 April 2024, 9:46 UTC with a landing near the launch site in Inner Mongolia.

Spacewalks On 21 December 2023, the first scheduled spacewalk of Shenzhou 17 was carried out by Tang Hongbo and Tang Shengjie through the airlock of the Wentian lab module. Tasks included a repair test of the Tianhe core module's solar panels, which have sustained minor damage caused by impacts of space debris and micrometeoroids. The spacewalk lasted for 7 hours and 25 minutes. On 2 March 2024, the second scheduled spacewalk of Shenzhou 17 was carried out by Tang Hongbo and Jiang Xinlin through the airlock of the Wentian lab module. Tasks included maintenance of the solar panels of the Tianhe core module, evaluation and analysis of the performance status of the solar panel power generation and also inspection of the status of the space station modules. The spacewalk lasted for 7 hours and 52 minutes.

Crew

Commander Tang Hongbo is the first person to visit the station twice, having previously flown to Tiangong on Shenzhou 12. He was in charge of keeping the crew safe and completing the mission. Tang Shengjie is a former Air Force pilot responsible for doing science operations aboard the station. Jiang Xinlin is also a former pilot, he is responsible for the maintenance during the mission.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Shenzhou 17

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Shenzhou 17 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Shenzhou 17 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Shenzhou 17 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Shenzhou 17

In research: Shenzhou 17 appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Shenzhou 17 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Shenzhou 17 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2023 in China, 2023 in spaceflight, Crewed Shenzhou missions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Shenzhou 17 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Shenzhou 17 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Shenzhou 17 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Shenzhou 17 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shenzhou 17 in simple terms?

Why does Shenzhou 17 matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Shenzhou 17?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Shenzhou 17.