Hadfield was selected to become one of four new Canadian astronauts from a field of 5,330 applicants in June 1992. Three of those four (Dafydd Williams, Julie Payette and Hadfield) have flown in space. The fourth candidate, Michael McKay, resigned as an astronaut in 1995. Hadfield was assigned by the CSA to the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in August, where he addressed technical and safety issues for Shuttle Operations Development, contributed to the development of the glass shuttle cockpit, and supported shuttle launches at the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida. In addition, Hadfield was NASA's chief CAPCOM (capsule communicator")", the voice of mission control to astronauts in orbit, for 25 Space Shuttle missions. From 1996 to 2000, he represented CSA astronauts and coordinated their activities as the chief astronaut for the CSA.