The co-founder of a Kansas museum that houses a nationally recognized collection of space memorabilia stole dozens of artifacts, sold them and pocketed the profits, prosecutors said Thursday.

Max Ary was instrumental in transforming a small-town planetarium into the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, which he led for 27 years. He is named in an 11-count federal indictment filed in Wichita that claims he stole a number of the Hutchinson museum’s prized possessions — many on loan from NASA.

The grand jury’s indictment said Ary made around $180,000 by selling the objects, including the nose of a rocket, an astronaut’s in-flight T-shirt, a control panel from Air Force One and an Apollo 12 water valve.

Cosmosphere president Jeff Ollenburger, who assumed Ary’s post after he left the museum in September 2002, said more than 100 items are unaccounted for, only a third of which are noted in the indictment. Ollenburger said no value has been placed on the missing items.

Jim Cross, a spokesman for U.S. Atty. Eric Melgren, said the court filing was not intended to be a “laundry list” of thefts, simply those for which prosecutors had significant evidence.

Wichita attorney Lee Thompson, who is representing Ary, said there are inconsistencies in the government’s case.

“Mr. Ary intends to defend his innocence against any charge that he harmed the Cosmosphere or the federal space program,” Thompson said. “Mr. Ary’s defense will certainly contend that his actions in dealing with tens of thousands of space items during his tenure at the Cosmosphere complied with the policies of the Cosmosphere’s board of directors.”

Under Ary’s leadership, the Cosmosphere grew from a two-person operation to a space museum with about 70 employees and 285,000 annual visitors.

In 2003, after Ary’s departure, the center’s board of directors first became aware that artifacts apparently had been sold without its approval and that the museum did not receive the money.

According to the indictment, Ary established two accounts with California auctioneer Superior Galleries Inc. — one in his name and another to sell items on behalf of the Cosmosphere.

The court filing details four auctions from October 1999 to May 2001 in which Ary allegedly sold 92 items for around $180,000, all deposited in his own personal account.

Ary is charged with two counts of wire fraud; three counts of mail fraud; two counts of theft of government property; three counts of interstate transportation of stolen property; and an 11th count in which prosecutors seek the forfeiture of any proceeds from the alleged crimes.

“We are prosecuting this case on behalf of NASA and others who have entrusted valuable historical artifacts to the Cosmosphere’s keeping,” Melgren said. “It is significant to all Americans that the history of this nation’s heroic exploration of space be preserved and retold to each new generation.”

Ary now lives in Oklahoma City, where he runs the Kirkpatrick Science and Air Space Museum at Omniplex. A spokeswoman there said Ary had been open about the possibility of legal action against him and said the defendant would take a leave of absence.

Ary did not return a call seeking comment.