science

Shenzhou 18

Shenzhou 18 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 18 rather than just read about it. In short: Shenzhou 18 (Chinese: 神舟十八号; pinyin: Shénzhōu Shíbā-hào; lit. 'Divine Boat Number 18') was a Chinese spaceflight to the Tiangong space station, launched on 25 April 2024. It carried three People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonauts on board a Shenzhou spacecraft.

Key takeaways

Shenzhou 18 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 18 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Shenzhou 18 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Shenzhou 18 (Chinese: 神舟十八号; pinyin: Shénzhōu Shíbā-hào; lit. 'Divine Boat Number 18') was a Chinese spaceflight to the Tiangong space station, launched on 25 April 2024. It carried three People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonauts on board a Shenzhou spacecraft. The mission was the thirteenth crewed Chinese spaceflight and the eighteenth flight overall of the Shenzhou program. The three crew members in this mission contributed to breaking the record for the most people (19) simultaneously in orbit, set after the Soyuz MS-26 mission launched on 11 September with its three crew members, along with the four crew members of the private Polaris Dawn mission launched on 10 September, and the nine crew members on the International Space Station.

Background Shenzhou 18 is the seventh flight to the Tiangong space station, and was expected to last approximately 6 months. It will depart following the arrival of the Shenzhou 19 crew. The crew of Shenzhou 18 was announced on April 24, 2024.

Mission The mission launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on board a Long March 2F rocket on 25 April 2024 at 12:59:00 UTC (20:59 China Standard Time), near the end of the Shenzhou 17 mission. Approximately 6.5 hours after launch, the spacecraft docked at the nadir port of the station's Tianhe core module.

Spacewalks On 28 May 2024, Ye Guangfu and Li Guangsu carried out China's longest spacewalk to date, exiting the airlock of the Wentian lab module and spending approximately 8.5 hours installing space debris protection shields and inspecting the exterior of the station. Another spacewalk was conducted on 3 July 2024, during which Ye Guangfu and Li Cong installed further space debris protection shields on pipelines, cables, and other equipment.

Return Shenzhou 18 successfully returned to Earth at 17:24 UTC on 3 November 2024.

Crew

Commander Ye Guangfu is the second person to visit the station twice, having previously flown to Tiangong on Shenzhou 13. He is responsible for the whole operation since launch and landing. Li Cong and Li Guangsu are former pilots. Li Cong is responsible for the station’s experiments and health maintenance operations while Li Guangsu is responsible for the maintenance of the space station while conducting experiments.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Shenzhou 18

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Shenzhou 18 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 18 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 18 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 18

In research: Shenzhou 18 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 18 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 18 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2024 in China, 2024 in spaceflight, Crewed Shenzhou missions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Shenzhou 18 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 18 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Shenzhou 18 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 18 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shenzhou 18 in simple terms?

Why does Shenzhou 18 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 18?

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 18.