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Pirs (ISS module)

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Pirs
The Pirs module attached to
the International Space Station.
Module statistics
COSPAR ID2001-041A
Launch date14 September 2001,
23:34:55 UTC
Launch vehicleSoyuz-U
Docked17 September 2001, 01:05 UTC
Undocked26 July 2021, 10:55 UTC
Reentry26 July 2021, 14:51 UTC[1]
Mass3,580 kg (7,890 lb)
Length4.91 m (16.1 ft)
Diameter2.55 m (8 ft 4 in)
Pressurised volume13 m3 (460 cu ft)

Pirs (Russian: Пирс, meaning "pier") – also called Stykovochny Otsek 1 (SO-1) (Russian: Стыковочный отсек, "docking module") and DC-1 (docking compartment) – was a Russian module formely used on the International Space Station (ISS). Pirs was launched on 14 September 2001, and was located on the Zvezda module of the station. It provided the ISS with one docking port for Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, and allowed egress and ingress for spacewalks by cosmonauts using Russian Orlan space suits. Pirs was docked to Zvezda for nearly 20 years, until July 26, 2021, where it was decommissioned and undocked by Progress MS-16 to make way for the new Nauka module.

Poisk module

A second docking compartment, Stykovochniy Otsek 2 (SO-2), was planned with the same design. However, when the Russian segment of the ISS was redesigned in 2001, the new design no longer included the SO-2, and its construction was canceled.[2] After another change of plans the SO-2 module finally evolved into the Poisk module, which was added to the ISS in 2009.

Design and construction

The flight engineer Oleg Kononenko photographs commander Sergey Volkov operating the manual Strela crane holding him. The commander stands on Pirs and has his back to the Soyuz spacecraft. Zarya is seen to the left and Zvezda across the bottom of the image.

The docking compartment had two primary functions: provide a docking port for visiting Soyuz and Progress spacecraft and serve as an airlock for Russian EVAs. The docking port can accommodate one Soyuz-MS or one Progress-MS spacecraft. Visiting spacecraft can deliver people and cargo to and from to the space station. In addition, the Docking Compartment can transfer fuel from the fuel tanks of a docked Progress resupply vehicle to either the Zvezda Service Module Integrated Propulsion System or the Zarya Functional Cargo Block. It could also transfer propellant from Zvezda and Zarya to the propulsion system of docked vehicles — Soyuz and Progress. The two airlocks are used for spacewalks by cosmonauts wearing Russian Orlan-M spacesuits. The Pirs docking compartment was manufactured by RKK Energia. The Docking Compartment was similar to the Mir Docking Module used on the Mir space station. The docking compartment's planned lifetime as part of the station was five years.

Launch

Pirs was launched on 14 September 2001, as ISS Assembly Mission 4R, on a Russian Soyuz-U launch vehicle, using a modified Progress spacecraft, Progress DC-1, as an upper stage. The 3,580 kg (7,890 lb) Pirs Docking Compartment was attached to the nadir (bottom, Earth-facing) port of the Zvezda service module.

Docking

Pirs docked to the International Space Station on 17 September 2001, at 01:05 UTC, and was configured during three spacewalks by the Expedition 3 crew. Two Strela cargo cranes were later added by the STS-96 and STS-101 missions, carried up on Integrated Cargo Carriers and installed during EVAs.

Airlock specifications

  • Length: 4.91 m (16.1 ft)
  • Diameter: 2.55 m (8 ft 4 in)
  • Weight: 3,580 kg (7,890 lb)
  • Volume: 13 m3 (460 cu ft)

Docking location at the ISS

The location of Pirs was the "Russian Orbital Segment", seen here from the starboard side – Pirs is the white module below the center of the image, with a dark-gray Progress spacecraft docked to its nadir port.
Nadir Docking port on Zvezda, the docking location of Pirs Module
ISS crewmember Gennady Padalka inside Zvezda's docking hub leading to Pirs.

Undocking and decay

Pirs was originally scheduled to be detached from the nadir (Earth-facing) port of the Zvezda module in 2013 to make room for the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module Nauka.[3] This has been delayed first to 2017 and then to 2018 due to a series of launch failures with the Proton launch vehicle leading to delays in the launch of Nauka.[4] Current ISS flight manifest, drafted said the undocking to be held on 23 July 2021 12:45 UTC, causing the Progress MS-16 mission to be extended to about 153 days. Progress MS-16 would perform the planned deorbiting of the Pirs module. Telemetry problems with Nauka MLM following launch delayed undocking for several days. Pirs was finally undocked on 26 July, 10:55 UTC, and deorbited four hours later at 14:51 UTC.[1]

Pirs was the first permanent ISS module to be decommissioned, and burned up and disintegrated during atmospheric re-entry over the Southern Pacific.[1]

Nauka module

Pirs was scheduled to be detached from the ISS and deorbited in 2017 by Progress MS-06 to make room for the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module Nauka. However, due to repeated delays with the laboratory module's construction and launch, the undocking maneuver was postponed to Progress MS-16 and conducted on 26 July 2021.[1]

Outside

  • Hover over each photo to view label detail
  • Pirs under construction at Energia in Moscow.
    Pirs under construction at Energia in Moscow.
  • Progress DC-1 with the Pirs module seen from the International Space Station during docking.
    Progress DC-1 with the Pirs module seen from the International Space Station during docking.
  • Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin (top center), participates in a session of extravehicular activity (EVA) near Pirs module.
    Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin (top center), participates in a session of extravehicular activity (EVA) near Pirs module.
  • Image of the Pirs taken during a March 2009 EVA.
    Image of the Pirs taken during a March 2009 EVA.

Inside

Undocking

  • Progress MS-16 docked to the ISS. The one who undocked Pirs.
    Progress MS-16 docked to the ISS. The one who undocked Pirs.
  • Progress MS-16 docked to the ISS before the removal of Pirs
    Progress MS-16 docked to the ISS before the removal of Pirs
  • ISS-65 Pirs docking compartment separates from the Space Station
    ISS-65 Pirs docking compartment separates from the Space Station
  • ISS-65 Pirs docking compartment separates from the Space Station
  • Tracks of the ISS and Progress MS-16 with the Pirs module on July 26, 2021, after undocking
    Tracks of the ISS and Progress MS-16 with the Pirs module on July 26, 2021, after undocking

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Gebhardt, Chris (25 July 2021). "Farewell, Pirs; ISS module decommissioned, destructively reentered". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  2. ^ Zak, Anatoly (3 October 2018). "Docking Compartments for the ISS". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  3. ^ "Consolidated Launch Manifest". NASA. 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ Zak, Anatoly (13 August 2019). "The Nauka multi-purpose module, MLM, for the Russian segment of ISS". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
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