Last modified: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 2:22 AM EDT Attleboro native Scott D. Tingle has been selected by NASA to begin astronaut training. NASA's candidate is native of Attleboro BY MICHAEL GELBWASSER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF ATTLEBORO - Future astronaut Scott Tingle was only 5 years old when he left Attleboro, where his late grandparents, Bill and Doris Devine, lived on Elizabeth Street. Still, Tingle said, "I have a lot of great childhood memories" of the city, where, he said, Bill Devine owned the Bank Street Diner and worked at Morin's. Tingle soon will live a dream he's had since two days after his fourth birthday: potential astronaut. Tingle and eight other members of NASA's 2009 astronaut candidate class will begin training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Aug. 24. Being selected for the class "felt great," said Tingle, who turns 44 on July 21. "It's just nice to be added to such an outstanding team," he said. More than 3,500 people applied to the astronaut corps, NASA said in a news release. "This is a very talented and diverse group we've selected," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for space operations. "They will join our current astronauts and play very important roles for NASA in the future," he said. "In addition to flying in space, astronauts participate in every aspect of human spaceflight, sharing their expertise with engineers and managers across the country. "We look forward to working with them as we transcend from the shuttle to our future exploration of space, and continue the important engineering and scientific discoveries aboard the International Space Station." A Navy commander, Tingle is a test pilot and assistant program manager-systems engineer at the Naval Air Station-Patuxent River in Maryland. He now resides in Hollywood, Md. He said he has enjoyed "watching the space pioneers forge the way into the future" and "just watching the space program grow as it has." Tingle said he is unsure if he'll be chosen to go into space. However, "my goal is to be part of the team." "If I end up being one of those people who helps build the bridge to younger people, then that's what I want to do. I'm very happy to provide that service," said Tingle, who said his uncle and aunt, Pat and Leslie Blake, still reside in North Attleboro.