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Exposed Engines
With the recent launch of the Antares I've been wondering why its engines are buried so deep with only a small portion of the expansion nozzles exposed. The other modern launchers pretty much cover the engine itself but leave the expansion nozzles exposed. The Atlas V does hide some of the expansion nozzle, but not as deeply as the Antares.
The obvious conclusion would be to protect the engine and expansion nozzle, but that's at the expense of making the encapsulation of a gimballed engine nozzle way out near the end a more complex venture than just covering the engine itself. You'd think if it was that important, most other systems would have incorporated it long ago. I guess the RS-181 likes to be nestled in the rocket's bosom, since its ancestor, the NK-33 was buried deep in the N-1. I think the NK's used in early Antares boosters were covered, but not buried. I don't remember for sure.
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