The Pirs docking compartment is a Russian module of the International Space Station (ISS). Pirs (Russian: Пирс, meaning "pier") -- also called "Stikovochny Otsek 1" or "SO-1" (Russian: Стыковочный отсек, "docking module") -- is one of the two Russian docking compartments originally planned for the ISS. Pirs was launched in August of 2001. It provides the ISS with additional docking ports, and allows egress and ingress for spacewalks by cosmonauts using Russian Orlan space suits. When the Russian segment of the ISS was redesigned in 2001, the new design did not include the SO-2, and its construction was canceled.[1] Although Pirs is the only airlock in the Russian segment of the station, spacewalks can also be conducted from the Quest airlock in the U.S. segment.[2] #iss_modules
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