In August 1998, Bjarni Tryggvason was invited by NASA to take part in their 1998 Mission Specialist Class held at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. This training consisted of two years of physical and academic training relating to future missions. This class was the first group of astronauts to be trained as both Mission Specialist for the Space Shuttle and as potential crewmembers for the ISS. He was initially assigned as a Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) crew representative. SAIL is used to test, check out, and verify Shuttle flight software prior to use on the shuttle. He also supported integrated simulations on the ISS Training Facility. This facility is used for ISS crew training as well as in support of training the ISS Mission Control team.