User talk:JonathanMcDowell

Welcome![edit]

Welcome to Wikipedia, JonathanMcDowell! I am WereSpielChequers and have been editing Wikipedia for quite some time. I just wanted to say hi and welcome you to Wikipedia! If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message on my talk page or by typing {{helpme}} at the bottom of this page. I love to help new users, so don't be afraid to leave a message! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Oh yeah, I almost forgot, when you post on talk pages you should sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); that should automatically produce your username and the date after your post. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and ask your question there. Again, welcome!

Ϣere SpielChequers 14:19, 15 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Your recent (May 2021) quote in the Guardian[edit]

Hi! Recently I edited a Wiki reference to a May 2021 Guardian article that was present on the Tianhe (space station module) page. The Guardian article had quoted you on the subject of the atmospheric reentry of the CZ-5B core stage; if I recall correctly, you were quoted as saying that debris from a 2020 reentry of the same vehicle type had damaged a building in Cote d'Ivoire. I was not aware of any source that indicated building damage and so I replaced said Wiki reference to the Guardian article by a new Wiki reference to a Youtube video on damages sustained by an Ivory Coast village; I did this on the ground that the former source contained hearsay.

However, I may be mistaken with regard to the scale of damage sustained by Ivory Coast during the 2020 reentry event. I think in these times of heightened passions on subjects concerning China, it is important me, who dabble in editing Wiki pages addressing the Chinese Space program as a hobby, to stick to the facts; in that spirit, if you'd kindly point me to any relevant info, such as possible damages to buildings etc., I then can remedy my possible editorial mistake and restore the Guardian reference.

I'd like to apologize for accosting you using your Wiki talk page, but I have no quick way of contacting you in order to ascertain if I'd made an editorial mistake. (As an aside, I agree that CNSA need to take international public and press opinions into greater account in their design choices as that is part of being a 'good neighbor' and entirely outside of the realms of history and politics.)

Cheers! And thanks for all your work on both your day-job and you space 'hobbies'!

Spotty's Friend (talk) 01:38, 7 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hi! My source was some postings from Ivoirian journalists on Facebook and Twitter that I can't now find but are also mentioned in this Nigerian news source: https://www.abidjanplus.com/societe/les-objets-metalliques-mysterieux-tombes-du-ciel-sont-des-debris

" Tandis que celle de Mahounou s’était logée dans un fromager après un bruit assourdissant. Quant à celle retrouvée à N’Guinou, elle avait fini sa course en perçant le toit d’une maison sans faire de victime."

which I translate as

  "While [the debris in] Mahounou lodged itself in a cheesemaking machine after a deafening noise... as for that found in N'Guinoi, it completed its flight by piercing the roof of a house, without causing casualties".

Jonathan McDowell