Eight astronaut candidates, including Northwest Kansas native Tyler (Nick) Hague, who arrived at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston this week to begin training participated in a news conference with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on Tuesday. Hague, originally from Hoxie, is introduced at 13:21 of the video. Fast forward the video to hear his comments.

The candidates who were selected come from the second largest pool of applicants NASA has ever received — more than 6,000. During the next two years, the group will participate in a variety of technical training activities at space centers and remote locations around the globe to prepare for missions that will help the agency push the boundaries of exploration and travel to new destinations in the solar system.